The Most Noble and Handsome Heir of Black
by snazzytuls
Summary: Sirius Orion Black has everything everyone wishes for: good looks, wealth, and pureblood status.  So quite naturally everyone is below him.  That is until he delves more into the secret that is the lowly, half-blood, half-breed that is Remus Lupin.
1. First Year Blues

Sirius Orion Black pretty much had it all, he thought at the very important age of eleven. He had his first Hogwarts letter, the Blacks' dashing good looks, their superior smarts, and their pure blood. So, quite naturally, Sirius was feeling very much on top of the world. The soon-to-be-new-student beamed—the only thing he needed to make this the best day ever was a reserved seat at the Slytherin table.

Sirius Orion Black was most definitely not scared, he told himself as he boarded the scarlet rocket—the Hogwarts express. He was most definitely not afraid, and especially not of the daunting task of making friends. He affectionately ruffled his own ebony locks. He was handsome _and_ charming; there was _no_ way he'd be left behind.  
Sirius beamed, entirely reassured.

Black cloth blinded his stormy grey eyes. He felt ridiculous, and—though he'd never, ever say it aloud—a bit nervous.  
Minutes passed and the sorting hat remained silent. Sirius began to panic. What if it never sorted him? Where would he go then? Sirius was sure he was about to cry when a voice echoed within the "Don't worry, for you it'll be GRYFFINDOR!"  
Someone tore the hat off his head. And, with a slight grimace, he sauntered (because Blacks _always_ sauntered) to the red and gold table. Gryffindor—his mother would definitely not be happy. His lips fell into a scowl as he thought that he wasn't too happy either.  
This, Sirius thought, was not a good day at all. He pouted—handsomely of course, everything he did was handsome—and wanted to go home.

Breakfast looked like it would be equally as unbearable as Sirius's first day. He did not count on another black-haired boy sliding down next to him. "Wotcher?" The bespectacled boy smiled and stuck out his hand. "James Potter."  
"Sirius Black." Sirius's smile was much more uncertain, but it was a smile nonetheless.  
"Excellent."  
And that was the very unexciting, but also very true tale of the start of James Potter and Sirius Black's explosive friendship.

First year was bearable. Gryffindor was not as bad as his family made it out to be. Making friends was not nearly as hard as he thought it would be. And playing pranks was much more fun than he ever could have imagined.  
Sirius took back his previous words—first year was amazing. And, for the first time in his life, the heir of the most Noble and Ancient House of Black was not looking forward to summer.


	2. Predisposed Prejudice

Sirius Orion Black—the purest Gryffindor around—was still, secretly, a Slytherin at heart. His parents had been delighted when they figured it out.  
Walburga and Orion Black had been elated to find out that Sirius's only friend—the one and only James Potter—was pureblood; that he never bad-mouthed his _true_ house; that he never intended to rebel. For their purposes, the Blacks had decided that the sorting hat made a mistake—it was just a hat after all.  
The married couple did not regret the Howler they sent Sirius however. Even if he was just eleven, he needed to learn how unfair the real world could be.

The train ride to second year was much, much better than the ride to first, Sirius decided. He and James used the entirety of the journey to plan pranks and copy homework. It made Sirius smirk—not smile because the summer taught him Blacks only ever smirk or scowl.  
"This year is definitely going to be wicked." James nodded enthusiastically.

Boy was Sirius wrong. Two weeks in and the duo already exhausted all their summer prank ideas. _And_ James was not paying as much attention to Sirius as the silver-eyed boy would have liked. So the pureblooded Gryffindor huffed and scowled for the better parts of September and October. He was not a happy Black.

It was not until Halloween morning—when Sirius was practically dancing with glee, because it was Halloween after all and not even a wronged Black could be sad on Halloween—that Sirius found what had taken up so much of James's time. He had another best friend.  
Now, if you asked Sirius outright, he would most definitely not call this jealousy; but it was. Sirius Orion Black was insanely jealous of some kid he was about to meet. In all seriousness, he didn't ever want to meet the kid. But if James wanted him to…  
He was the most unremarkable person Sirius had ever seen. Brown eyes, brown hair, and patched robes. Completely unremarkable. Completely timid as well it seemed. He hardly dared to look at Sirius, and stuttered his 'h-h-hello'. But, for some reason, James at him and ruffled his hair affectionately. "This is Remus Lupin." Sirius grunted a hello—the brown-eyed boy blushed. "And this is the Sirius Black I've been talking about." Sirius's ego and chest swelled; he was still on top. The bespectacled boy noticed Sirius's self-important smirk and laughed. "You guys will get along amazingly. I can tell."  
This was how Remus Lupin officially 'became friends with' Sirius Black. This is when Remus Lupin became Sirius Black's adversary.

This Lupin boy had seriously upset the balance Sirius and James had spent all first year making. For one, he actually worked in class—worked! Everyone knew that class was for pranks and note-passing. And then there were his shabby robes. Sirius's own were always at their best, and didn't like their proximity to Lupin's. The boy was always in the middle too; instead of James and Sirius—like it ought to be—it was James, Remus, and Sirius.  
And, well, Remus Lupin was a half-blood. A—according to Walburga and Orion Black—fli. And then there were his shabby robes. Sirius's own were always at their best, and didn't like their proximity to Lupin's. The boy was always in the middle too; instead of James and Sirius—like it ought to be—it was James, Remus, and Sirius.  
And, well, Remus Lupin was a half-blood. A—according to Walburga and Orion Black—filthy disgrace to wizards. Since Sirius was a good Black, he couldn't ignore that fact about Remus—Sirius's best friend's best friend. He couldn't look past Lupin's unpure blood.  
In the back of his mind—the extremely back of it, mind you—he was ashamed of himself.

After a month of their 'friendship', Lupin finally became of service to Sirius. The timid boy had let Sirius copy his flawless homework. Lupin, who had never seen anything but thinly-veiled malice from the raven-haired youth, had offered to let Sirius copy. This was quite a feat of bravery, seeing as Lupin was prompted to offer after witnessing Sirius in an absolute rage for having forgotten to do it himself.  
So, Sirius though, maybe Lupin was not a complete hindrance after all.


	3. Pranking

Sirius Orion Black thought second year was finally on the rise as winter began to blow onto the castle grounds.  
He really hated all this 'getting proven wrong' thing. He started scowling and pouting all the time once more. Sirius had been (temporarily) replaced, again.  
And, if there were anyone he absolutely detested more than Remus Lupin, it was Peter Pettigrew. Peter-bloody-Pettigrew. The silver-eyed boy huffed and crossed his arms—elegantly of course. Lupin was at least useful, he decided.  
Lupin was nothing short of a genius, Sirius admitted begrudgingly. His school marks were always perfect, and he was socially smart too. That is, he understood ever unspoken cue and always played his own part swimmingly. Remus Lupin was officially 'alright' in Sirius's books—if he continued to let Sirius copy his work that is. He went to tell this to the brown-eyed boy, when he made a surprising discovery. Remus Lupin's eyes weren't that unremarkable brown Sirius first took them for; they were absolutely amber. The silver-eyed boy felt himself grow envious, but it wasn't the angry sort of envy he was accustomed to. Instead he kinda liked that Remus had them and he didn't.  
Because Sirius was too busy focusing on that amber colour, he didn't notice the small panic Remus had fallen into. The smaller boy had no idea why Sirius was staring at him so intensely. The panic only increased when Sirius finally spoke—"Your eyes aren't brown."  
"What colour are they?" Sirius didn't understand why Remus sounded frightened. "Oh, what did James do this time?"  
"What are you on about; James didn't do anything." Remus wasn't consoled. "I only meant that aren't that boring brown. They're amberish actually." The amber-eyed boy blushed and stuttered a 'th-thanks'. Sirius pouted a bit, who thought paying a compliment could be so much work.

***

Sirius threw himself—gingerly of course, he didn't want to maim his beautiful body—into the chair across from Remus. The ebony-haired youth had found himself in that chair more often than not lately, seeing as James _still_ had been spending more time with Peter. Sighing rather obnoxiously, Sirius sunk low in the seat. "What's wrong, eh?" Sirius jerked his head in surprise; when it came to conversing with Remus, he always started the conversations. Remus rolled his eyes when Sirius continued to gape at him. "What are you sighing about?" At this Sirius scowled, and his sulk became more pronounced.  
"I am not sulking." Remus couldn't hide his laugh. "I am not!" The amber-eyed boy gestured to Sirius's crossed arms. "Well…..well—" He couldn't just say his was jealous. "—James and I haven't pranked in weeks!" Remus smiled knowingly—he knew Sirius's real problem.  
"Why don't you prank by yourself?" Sirius blushed—something no one outside his family had ever seen before.  
"He's usually the idea-guy." Remus smirked and leaned across the table. Sirius had to fight the urge to lean away—he was still fighting this whole 'half-blood' thing.  
"Well I have an idea." The pureblood's eyes widened; Remus took this as a cue to continue, "How do you feel about pranking James and Peter?" Sirius smirked.

Remus and Sirius walked down to the Great Hall together. Remus and Sirius sat down together. And Remus and Sirius waited for James and Peter together. Everyone noticed the odd pair, except for James and Peter. When the second pair sat down, the first exchanged glances. Remus sent Sirius a quick wink—which threw the raven-haired boy off, and almost caused him to blush again—before muttering an incantation. Sirius mimicked him.  
"Bloody hell!" The remains of James and Peter's breakfast slowly slid off the boys' faces. Sirius and Remus roared with laughter. James glared at them as he cleaned off his glasses; poor Peter still gaped in confusion.  
"You should've seen your faces." Remus and Sirius couldn't stop laughing. Peter, who finally understood what was going on, scowled—the effect was lost due to the eggs splattered across his face.  
"How the hell did you even think of that, Sirius?" James's anger ebbed as the curiosity of his inner-prankster was roused. Sirius shook his head and pointed to Remus.  
"It was all his idea." James looked at Remus in awe. "He's a genius." The amber-eyed boy blushed slightly and beamed.  
"Bloody hell, Remus. Who knew you had it in you."


	4. Scars

Remus John Lupin was sick _a lot_. At first Sirius never really noticed. But as the silver-eyed boy was left more and more in Remus's company, he observed the boy's sickly ways. He constantly had bags under his eyes; his complexion was always much too peaky; and there were the scars. Sirius had no idea how he missed them before—well actually he did. Remus's face was almost scar-free; it was the rest of his body that truly suffered.  
No one was ever supposed to find out. Now that Sirius knew, he also knew all the measures Remus took to hide them. The one on his face—it was actually quite fascinating, Sirius thought; it ran from his eye to his jaw line—was constantly covered with cream that blended into Remus's skin. And, for the others, Remus just hid his body from everyone. Sirius wasn't ever supposed to find out; he was just walking back into the dormitory. The ebony-haired boy was half-way in the door when he noticed Remus; when he noticed a shirtless Remus.  
Sirius's first reaction was one he was not proud of. His breath stopped in his throat and blood rushed to his face. Now Sirius knew beauty when he saw it—he _did_ see quite a lot of himself, keep in mind. And Remus John Lupin was bloody gorgeous. Once his breathing returned to normal, Sirius noticed the scars. They littered his back and arms. The silver-eyed boy snuck back out the door,—though he would have been content to continue standing there—and Remus still didn't know that Sirius saw him.  
So, seeing as Remus was dreadfully sick once more, Sirius was left to ponder the mysterious scars by himself. The pureblood's mind quickly wondered away from the scars and towards Remus's impeccable body.  
He groaned and buried his head in his hands. Why in hell was he a half-blood? (Sirius had either forgotten that Remus was also a guy, or else he just didn't care about that as much. But, to clarify, his parents would care _very_ much about that. In fact they'd care very much about this Lupin boy in general. But that would be another Howler for another time.)  
Groaning again, Sirius decided to visit said amber-eyed youth in the Hospital Wing. Maybe he could take his mind off blood purity.

James was spread across the laying Remus's feet while Peter was struggling through his homework by the sick boy's beside. "Alright, Remus?" Those amber eyes widened a bit in surprise; Remus had never heard Sirius call him by his first name before.  
"Hello, Sirius." A small smile played across the grey-eyed boy's lips. It dissipated once he saw Remus wince—all the boy did was move into a sitting position. James didn't seem to notice Remus's discomfort though, seeing as the hazel-eyed boy grinned up at Sirius.  
"Well if it isn't the noble Sirius Black." Peter was the only one not looking at the young Black, he was afraid of Sirius to tell the truth—something Sirius was fine with himself, he still didn't like Peter. "Come to wish our friend a speedy recovery?" Sirius, feeling very daffy all of a sudden, bowed.  
"I have come to aid Master Remus until he is healthy once more." Remus laughed heartily, which caused him to wince and grab his ribs again. This time the other boys didn't fail to notice. "Remus, what's wrong?" The sickly boy shook his head.  
"It's nothing, just some sore muscles." No one was convinced. The amber boy smiled—it looked bitter to Sirius. "Really—look I can walk and everything." Remus slid out from under the sheets and stood on shaky legs. "See?" Sirius frowned (not scowled like his parents would have liked) and shook his head.  
"Let us help you." So James grabbed one of the protesting boy's arms while Sirius grabbed the other. The trek to the dormitory proved to be more awkward than James originally counted on. It was hard for the three-man-wide cluster to squeeze through some corridors and crowds. In the midst of it all Peter disappeared, and James went looking for him. That left Sirius and Remus alone, looking like they were ready to enter a three-legged race.  
"You can let go." Sirius did as Remus asked. "Um..t-thanks for coming down, Sirius." Sirius stopped in surprise.  
"Why wouldn't I, Remus? Isn't that what friends are for?" This time Remus was surprised, but no hint of it crossed his features. "Even if you are a half-blood." Now this part Sirius hadn't meant to say at all. In fact, it was so faint he wasn't even sure if it had really slipped from his lips.  
But it had. And somehow the amber boy heard it—Remus was rather far away. He stopped and turned with narrow eyes. "So this is what it's been about," he hissed. "The _noble_ and _pure_ Sirius Black can't bear to be around _lowly_ half-bloods?" Sirius winced even though Remus hadn't touched him at all.  
"It…it was." Remus turned back around and started to walk again. "Wait! Remus, wait!" The other boy continued to walk, but his pace had slowed considerably. "It _was _Remus, _was_!" Sirius felt his face flush as he tried to find the right words. "I know this doesn't mean much to you, but I've been trying. It's hard fighting something you've been taught your whole life." Remus finally stopped, but he kept his back to Sirius. "I don't want to hate you, especially not over something as ridiculous as this."  
"It's not something I have any control over." The smaller boy began talking over Sirius. "I can't _pick_ my blood, Sirius." Before Remus could continue—and before Sirius could fully think it through—the pureblood enveloped the half-blood in a hug.  
"I _know_. And I can't control what my parents tell me." The smaller boy's face was a brilliant scarlet by now. "I'm sorry, Remus."  
"I'm sorry too, Sirius." The pair stood like that for a few more moments.  
"Poofs!" That is, until a few Slytherins stumbled upon them.  
"_Rictusempra!_"  
"_Tarantallegra!_" Sirius and Remus walked away as the Slytherins battled with their respected jinxs. Sirius smiled.


	5. Werewolf

Remus John Lupin had a secret. Of course Sirius had no idea what it is, but he fully intends to find out. Since that day in the corridor, Sirius and Remus had become practically inseparable—though not in the same James-and-Sirius way. James was still his best friend, and still the guy he looked up to. But Remus was….he was more than that. He was one of Sirius's best friends, and yet, there was more.  
But that was another secret for another time.

Apparently chronic illness ran in Remus's family. His mother must be on Death's doorstep, seeing as Remus went to look after her every month. After the fourth month of Remus's (reluctant) leaving, Sirius had enough. He thought it would just be better for every involved part if Remus just stayed at school—in reality that would really only be better for a one, very selfish Sirius. When Remus told him that, the grey-eyed boy pouted and sulked. With Remus gone and Peter hanging all over James, Sirius was left to his own devices.  
In short, Sirius was left to boredom.  
So when he saw Remus packing a bag for a quick trip home, he panicked. "Remus, don't go!" Sirius grabbed Remu's bag and held it above the smaller boy's head. "Please don't go." The amber boy smiled bitterly and pulled out his wand.  
"_Accio bag!_" Sirius tightened his grip, but it was in vain; the bag flew into Remus's outstretched hand. "Believe me Sirius, I wish I didn't have to."  
"Then stay." Remus laughed humorously—Sirius didn't understand what wasn't funny.

Sirius could not stand being left alone again, so he sucked up his pride and sat with James and Peter. He sulked as he watched James explain essay after essay to the rounder boy. The full moon shone through all the windows of the Gryffindor common room, and Sirius sighed. Maybe Remus was taking a break from his demanding mother and watching the moonrise too.  
Little did he know, Remus was doing that exact thing. But he was not taking relief from the moon's light; instead he cried.

It was four days before any of them heard head-or-tail of Remus. The youth slinked through the portrait-hole looking like he caught whatever his mother had. Much to everyone's surprise, Sirius rushed over and gently hugged Remus. "Don't go back." Then, again to everyone's surprise, Remus nodded and began to cry.  
The rest of the Gryffindor common room laughed and cooed at the couple. (Lily Evans beamed at the boys, and James thought he stopped breathing for a moment.) But James frowned and stared at Remus. There was something more to all of this, he was sure of it.  
James began collecting curious clues as to Remus's secret. From what he could guess, his findings would not be beneficial for anyone.

James's secret secret-finding mission was momentarily forgotten as the boys ran through the halls, trying to avoid Filch. All four ended up stumbling into a nearby closet as their waterproof-fireworks continue to go off in the Charms corridor. Even their breathing seemed muted. But then something slithered over Peter's feet, and the round boy jumped. All four looked up in awe as the closet became illuminated by a silvery orb. Remus's eyes widened and his breathing became shallow—this did not escape James's attention. The orb grew in size and began to float nearer to the panicking boy. When it was close enough to reach out and grab Remus,—if it had arms that is—the boy, not fearing Filch's wrath any longer, darted from the closet. Sirius and Peter blinked in confusion as the orb shrunk and Remus fled. James was not confused any longer though. He knew actually what was going on. The boggart, sickness, and absences all made sense.  
"Remus is a werewolf." Sirius, who had began to go after Remus, stopped in his tracks. "It all makes sense."  
"What the hell are you on, mate?" Peter looked terrified, while Sirius just looked angrily in denial. "There's no blood way." James shook his head.  
"Didn't you just see that boggart, Sirius?" The ebony-haired boy opened his mouth to argue. "It was a full moon." It snapped back shut. "All those 'visits' to his mother all happen on the full moon. His always gets really _sick_ after the full moon. He's a werewolf." All Sirius could think of were those scars.  
"What are we going to do, James?" Meek, little Peter was trembling.  
"Well nothing. It's not like we're just going to abandon him." Now Sirius did not agree with this. This new, terrible information caused the Black to resort back to his pre-Hogwarts thoughts. Which, of course, did not favour half-breeds.  
"Are you out of your bleeding mind, Potter?" A snarl ripped itself from Sirius's throat. "He's a blood-thirsty monster." Now, it wasn't a secret that Sirius originally couldn't stand Remus. But James knew Sirius was still fighting off his parentage, and he'd eventually get over it. So he wasn't angry then. He was now.  
"You're the mental one, Sirius! He's still Remus; our shy, bookworm of a friend!" Sirius clenched his fist—no matter how much he liked James, he didn't like being talked down to. "He didn't _choose_ to get bitten." Sirius's blood froze as he remembered that day in the hallway; 'I can't _pick_ my blood, Sirius'. His hand relaxed as his bowed his head.  
"You're right." Sirius laughed bitterly. "God, I can be quite the arse sometimes." He ran off after Remus before the other boys could stop him. Peter still looked terrified, but James smiled. He knew they'd be great friends.  
Sirius didn't find Remus until he was almost all the way back to Gryffindor tower. The amber youth was sitting on the stairs with his knees curled up to his chest. "James figured it out." Remus didn't look up at Sirius. "We know you're a—" He had trouble getting the word out. "—a werewolf." The smaller boy still didn't look up or speak; instead he winced and curled tighter. "We don't care." Remus either didn't hear him or didn't believe him. "_I_ don't care, Remus." Sirius gently tilted Remus's chin up so they had eye contact. "It doesn't change anything. You're still my best friend." The Black heir saw something glitter behind those amber eyes before he was pulled into a hug.  
"Thank you, Sirius."  
That was the day Sirius Orion Black had officially fallen for Remus John Lupin. It wasn't the day he admitted it to himself though.


	6. Transfiguration

The summer before his third year was the worst summer ever, decided the thirteen-year-old Sirius Orion Black. His parents, hoping second year did nothing to the Black in him, were surprised when Sirius lashed out against their blood purity speech. They were surprised when he defended half-bloods, muggles, and half-breeds with everything in him. So most of the summer was spent trying to beat the Black back into him.  
Sirius had never looked forward to anything so much as he did third year.

***

So far, third year looked almost as bad as the summer was. Second year brought Remus and Peter for James to fawn over. Third year was quidditch and Lily Evans. Now James had most definitely liked Lily since day one, but third year brought thirteen-year-old hormones. So every day was 'gush about Evans' day and 'try to impress Evans' day—Sirius was a bit sick of it.  
Quidditch took up all the rest of James's free time. Sirius didn't mind this as much; James _was _good, he admitted rather begrudgingly. It would have been a waste of talent if the bespectacled boy didn't play. This all left Sirius with Remus once again, but this year the ebony-haired boy didn't mind at all. It was Peter he minded.  
Without James, Peter was forced on Remus (seeing as Sirius would most definitely not have him). But Remus was Sirius's, so quite naturally there was no real room for Peter (Sirius had already tried explaining this to Remus). But the amber boy was much too nice—and didn't dislike Peter like Sirius did—and let the round boy hang around. This forced Sirius into his company, which made him unpleasant. An unpleasant Sirius made for a frightened Peter. All of this made Remus miss James; he never understood how the bespectacled boy could handle all the different dynamics of their friend group.  
"Remus, can you help me with the Potions homework?" The werewolf smiled at the blonde-haired boy.  
"Of course, Peter. What don't you understand?" Sirius pouted and sulked in his chair. First Peter took away James and now Remus. The black-haired boy, who was used to constant attention, knew he had a valid reason for disliking Peter.  
"Remus, let's take a walk." Remus, who had just started helping Peter, looked at Sirius incredulously.  
"Because you apparently haven't noticed, I'm busy right now Sirius." The taller boy pouted again and sunk lower in his seat. "Just give me five minutes, okay?"  
Five minutes later, Sirius had Remus away from Peter. The pureblood smiled to himself and led the werewolf to the astronomy tower. Sirius dangled his feet off the edge and looked up at the seemingly-harmless crescent moon. "Does it hurt terribly?" Remus sighed as he slid next to Sirius.  
"Quite terribly." Silence fell over the pair as silver-eyed boy grabbed the amber one's hand. He mindlessly pushed up the sleeve and searched for the scars. The moonlight illuminated all the old claw-marks, all the old bite-marks. "I hate them; every single one." And then Sirius did something that changed their friendship forever. He kissed one of the scars on Remus's arm.  
"I'll find some way to help. I swear I will."

Weeks had passed and neither boy mentioned the astronomy tower. Sirius still hung all over Remus and tried to alienate Peter; but neither mentioned the scars. Remus still took walks with Sirius and gave in to all of his wishes; but neither mentioned the kiss. James and Peter never would have guessed that anything had transpired.  
Sirius had began spending much more of his time in the library—something that surprised everyone. He had intended to keep his promise, he intended to help Remus. So far all he found out was that werewolves weren't a problem to animals. But that didn't help a fully human Sirius.  
Well, at least he thought it didn't. Transfiguration with McGonagall proved him wrong. Animagi—they could become animagi. Sirius was beaming all day; he couldn't wait to tell James his plan.  
"You want us to do what?" It appeared that no one else was as onboard as Sirius was. "Mate, you heard McGonagall. It takes a lot of time and work to become an animagus." Sirius tried his best not to lash out. Didn't they understand how important this was to help Remus?  
"We can do this, James. We _have_ to." James took one look at Sirius's face and caved.  
"For Remus." Peter, who was still slightly afraid of the whole werewolf thing and of Sirius, took much longer to convince. But Sirius left that up to James. He was going to become an animagus—he smiled.

Remus John Lupin was an extremely happy boy—most of the time. eH4 He was allowed to attend school, he had a nice family, and he had friends. Of course none of that was such a big deal for most kids, but most kids weren't werewolves. Remus smiled as Sirius ruffled his hair and sat down next to him. "You wanna take a walk, Rem?" The smaller boy was about to protest on the grounds of homework when Sirius dragged him out of his chair without waiting for an answer. "Great." The pair climbed stair after stair before reaching the astronomy tower. Sirius dangled his feet off the side and stared up at the moon again. It was a gibbous—much, much closer to the full moon than before.  
Remus, who recalled the last time they were there, sat a little further from Sirius than he would've normally. "Why are we here, Sirius?" The raven-haired boy shrugged.  
"This is my favourite part of the castle. So I thought I'd bring my favourite person here." The last part was a whisper, but it sounded clear as a bell to Remus's werewolf ears. He laughed a little.  
"Yeah right. The whole castle knows how much you moon over James. Everyone reckons you're in love with him." This caused Sirius to laugh quite heartily.  
"I reckon you're right." Sirius was serious. "It explains the absolute obsession and unfathomable jealousy." Remus laughed a little as Sirius's face became one of complete understanding. "But don't you worry, Rem. James isn't the boy for me; not when he looks so perfect with Evans. Even if she won't give him the time of day." With his blend of seriousness and truthfulness, Remus got Sirius's true intention—Remus really was his favourite person.  
Remus John Lupin was an extremely happy boy. He was allowed to attend school, he had a nice family, he had friends, and he had his Sirius.


	7. Boyfriend?

Sirius dangled his feet off the side of the astronomy tower. The moon was full, and he was alone. The pureblood's thoughts all danced around the same topic—Remus. A shriek that tore Sirius's heart echoed across Hogwarts's ground. The shriek grew worse as it transformed itself into a howl. Sirius winced as tortured scream after scream continued to assault his ears. But he didn't go back in.  
In fact, Sirius didn't slip James's Invisibility Cloak back on until the moon had started to set and the howls stopped. This wouldn't be the last time the silver-eyed boy would stay up all night with Remus on a full moon.

It was quite clear to James that Sirius hadn't a wink of sleep, but he had no idea why. Surprisingly, Peter also noticed and also knew why. "It's Remus, mate." James, who had been quite absent in the lives of his two best friends lately (Peter was more of a half-friend, he was even starting to annoy James), didn't notice the change between Remus and Sirius. "He's bloody in love with him, I reckon." Now James laughed; Peter must have been trying to pull his leg.  
"The most noble and Black Sirius in love with our little Remus? Now that'd be something." James had completely underestimated Sirius, seeing as the boy was head-over-heels for the resident werewolf.  
"It's true!" James continued to chuckle in disbelief. Sirius falling in love with anyone that wasn't himself would be something to see.

* * *

Sirius flew down the corridors, bowling over everyone in his path. He flung open the doors to the hospital wing—earning a scolding from Madame Pomfrey—and rushed to the closed off bed. Remus was asleep. The amber boy looked so vulnerable laying there—bruises littered his arms and a bandage covered his face. Sirius gave a small moan of anguish while he buried his head in the sheets by Remus. "Morn'." The black-haired boy's head shot back up as his heard the croaked greeting.  
"Shh, Rem; you don't have to say anything." The injured boy shook his head.  
"And you don't have to be here." This time Sirius shook his head.  
"It looks like we're both in disagreement." The silver-eyed boy lightly began to trace the bruises that marred Remus's arms. "Was it bad this time?" Remus couldn't bring himself to say 'yes', so all he did was nod. Sirius went back to tracing the imperfections. Madame Pomfrey looked slightly embarrassed as she interrupted the two.  
"Mr. Black, I need you to leave for a moment. I want to examine Mr. Lupin one last time before handing him over." Hardly ten minutes passed before Remus was free to go. The pair was barely a corridor away from the hospital wing when they ran into James and Peter—who were on their own way to visit Remus.  
"Remus!" James promptly dropped his bag and rushed over to the werewolf. "What are you doing out of bed? What happened to your face? Have you had any breakfast yet?" The bespectacled boy paused to breathe; Remus took this chance to answer.  
"Madame Pomfrey gave me the okay. I clawed it. And no." James looked aghast; he grabbed Remus's wrist and dragged him to the Great Hall.  
"I'll get you fed up in no time." No time apparently would have to wait. A gaggle of Slytherins—among them, Sirius's younger brother Regulus—had the entrance blocked.  
"Well if it isn't Potter and his motley crew." The Slytherins sneered. Snape's eyes caught the reopened cut on Remus's race. "What did you do to your boyfriend, Black? Beat him up?" Blood flooded Remus's face; anger flooded Sirius's eyes. Wands were pulled on both sides. Regulus smirked.  
"You couldn't just be a blood traitor, could you? Had to break mum's heart even further and get yourself a boyfriend." And then Sirius did something he would never regret.  
"Yeah so what if he's my boyfriend?" He grabbed Remus's hand and laced their fingers together. Everyone's—most definitely including Remus's—jaws dropped in surprise. Boyfriend?


	8. Howler

Boyfriend? Remus wasn't so sure about that.  
Now Sirius had plenty of time to think over his feelings for Remus—hell it had taken a lot of time to figure out if the whole half-blood and werewolf things were worth it (they most definitely were). So he was fully confident in his feelings for Remus. The amber boy was not so confident. Sure he liked Sirius—really, really liked him. But was it enough to date him? Remus chanced a look at Sirus's face; he was greeted with a smile and utter adoration in those silver eyes. The smaller boy squeezed Sirius's hand and smiled—maybe it wouldn't be so bad being Sirius Black's boyfriend.  
The Slytherins, who all had just been joking, stood stunned. The four Gryffindors took this chance to push past them and get some breakfast. At first none of them spoke, they were all too involved in their own thoughts to form coherent sentences. Sirius, personally, was too involved with trying to eat gracefully—the new couple hadn't stopped holding hands, and this was a bit of problem for the right-handed Sirius; but he didn't mind too much, he liked the feeling of Remus's hand in his.  
"So…um..how long has this been going on?" James looked quite flustered as he tried to find the right words.  
"For about twenty-two minutes and thirty-six seconds." The hazel-eyed boy looked more confused, if anything. "Nothing overly-romantic has conspired between me and Remus here until about twenty-two minutes ago." James gave one last, long look at their conjoined hands before sighing in defeat.  
"Whoever would've thought Sirius would fall for someone other than himself?" Peter angrily hit the table with his fists.  
"I told you he fancied Remus!" Sirius stared at the pudgy boy in surprise, who knew he could be so perceptive. James laughed sheepishly and ruffled Peter's hair.  
"So you did. Sorry, Peter."  
And was the day Remus John Lupin officially became Sirius Orion Black's boyfriend.

* * *

In a few hours, it also became the day Sirius first snogged Remus senseless—well, it was more like Sirius's awkward very first kiss.  
The pair was half-way to Gryffindor Tower when Sirius, in a moment of boldness, pulled Remus into an empty corridor. His brashness ebbed away though as those amber orbs looked up at him. "Er..since you're my boyfriend now and everything it's finally okay to do this." Sirius brought his lips down into an almost graceful—he bonked noses with Remus at one point—kiss. It, by no means, was long; nor were there any fireworks. But Sirius thought it was perfect.  
"I'm not so sure I caught that, Sirius." At first Sirius looked extremely crestfallen. "Maybe you should repeat it?" The pureblood beamed before diving in for another kiss; he was happy.

* * *

When a Slytherin finds a scandal, the whole school knows in a day. So it wasn't really a surprise when everyone began whispering as they noticed Sirius and Remus's conjoined hands. That didn't stop the couple from turning scarlet though.  
Sirius should have also been expecting the Howler. The envelope had already started smoldering once the owl dropped it. With shaky hands, Sirius opened it. "HOW DARE YOU SHAME US AGAIN, SIRIUS ORION BLACK!" Sirius winced; everyone in the Great Hall craned their necks to get a good look at him. "BEING A BLOOD TRAITOR WASN'T ENOUGH FOR YOU, WAS IT? YOU HAD TO GO AND GET YOUSELF A BOYFRIEND—NOT EVEN A PUREBLOOD! DO YOULIKE BREAKING MY HEART?" At this point, Remus and Sirius had been trying to make themselves as small as possible. "JUST YOU WAIT UNTIL CHRISTMAS YOUNG MAN! I SWEAR TO MERLIN!" And with that the absolutely terrifying voice of Walburga Black faded away and the envelope reduced itself to ashes.  
The Slytherin table exploded in laughter. Sirius buried his head in his hands; Remus's eyes remained on the dead Howler. "Would you boys care for some lemon drops?" Professor Dumbledore, in all his white-bearded glory, stood over the boys. Still in shock, they nodded. The after- mentioned sweets were presented, and Dumbledore winked. "Don't let them get to you."  
That was much easier said than done. The rest of the week was Howler free—Sirius thanked Merlin for that, he wouldn't have put it past his mum to send one every day. But the Slytherins were absolutely unbearable, even some of the other houses were too. If it wasn't for the utter adoration that constantly shone from Sirius's eyes, Remus might have just given up. It seemed he had underestimated being Sirius Black's boyfriend. But, as said silver-eyed boy swooped in for a kiss, Remus thought it was worth it.


	9. Of Nightmares and Waking

Remus suffered from nightmares. Sirius watched the whimpering boy in surprise. He had never mentioned it to anyone in their year of friendship. The silver-eyed boy frowned—he was slightly disappointed that he wasn't the great friend and boyfriend he thought himself to be. Remus whimpered again; Sirius tightened his hold around the smaller-boy and placed a small kiss on his forehead. He could never imagine what plagued Remus's mind.  
Werewolves would have been a good guess. An extremely good and an extremely correct guess. Remus didn't actually have nightmares; he only had _a_ constant nightmare. Every night he was bitten and every night was the first transformation. The amber boy was one of the few who never felt safe in his dreams. Unbeknownst to him, he whimpered again. He noticed the small shake Sirius gave him though. The roaring fire and red-and-gold that is the Gryffindor common room contrasted greatly with Remus's dying dream.  
"Are you okay, Rem?" Sirius's look of worry increased when Remus frowned. "What was it about?" The black-haired boy didn't need to say 'nightmare', the word seemed to hang between them.  
"It was about—" Remus had never given away any details about his lycanthropy and was at a loss as how to start. "—the bite." He hadn't noticed he was shaking until he felt Sirius's hand slid under his shirt. The other boy rubbed soothing circles on Remus's bare back. "I was only seven when it happened. It was because of my dad." He laughed bitterly and gestured to the scar on his face. "It's all because of my dad." Sirius, who had fallen completely out of Walburga's favour, understood. "It's not my fault I'm a monster."  
"Shhh, it's okay Remus. You're not a monster; not even close." Tears pricked at those amber eyes; Remus shook his head. "It's not your fault, Rem. You didn't choose this." The pair remained like that—with Remus crying silently as his head lay on Sirius's chest—for a while. They weren't perfect, but they'd make it.

* * *

Remus was unjustly jerked from his sleep. At first he couldn't find the source of the disturbance, but then he heard a whimper. His ears easily recognized Sirius. It appeared the other boy suffered from nightmares as well. Remus softly padded over to Sirius's bedside and watched as the other boy furiously kicked at his sheets. Sirius's face was set into a frown and his hair was matted with sweat—he looked awful. Deciding to live up to the Gryffindor crest on his robes, Remus did something rather brave. He slid into bed next to Sirius. While that doesn't sound brave at all, keep in mind this is only after two months of nothing but light snogging.  
"Shh, Sirius. It's okay—I promise." The amber boy held Sirius to his chest and whispered in his ear. "Everything will be okay."

* * *

James hardly batted an eyelash when he awoke and found his two best friends curled together in a bed. But Peter was highly unsettled. The dynamic of their group was changing, and he didn't like it. Peter already recognized that his place in the group relied completely on James. But now that the other two were an item, Peter was truly afraid. Some day Lily Evans would finally say yes and Peter would be left alone.  
So he didn't like finding Sirius and Remus curled around one another. He didn't like it one bit.

Sirius, who had been completely unaware of the new sleeping arrangement, liked what he found when he awoke. He was pleasantly surprised to find arms curled around him. In fact, Sirius was so content he just snuggled closer to Remus and tried to go back to sleep. He'd have to sleep like this more often, he decided.  
And so they did frequently from then on. Neither had any complaints over the arrangements. Nor were either plagued by nightmares since then.


	10. Third Year Hormones

Minerva McGonagall was a tolerant woman—hell she lives with thousands of magical teenagers. So of course she only raised an eyebrow when she found Lupin and Black with intertwined hands. Maybe, she thought, he'd be able to control that prankster. "Just don't let those perfect grades slip, Lupin." The boys beamed up at her—sometimes being a teacher paid off.  
But she wasn't so tolerant when she saw Black trying to snog Lupin in the back of her classroom. "Black! Lupin! My class is not lover's lane!" As expected with third years, the rest of the class turned to look at the blushing couple. They mumbled a 'sorry, professor' and separated. "Now, as I was saying…."  
Out of the corner of her eye, Minerva saw a note fly from Black's desk to Lupin's. She also saw the smile on Lupin's face and decided to let it slide this time. There was no denying that she had a soft spot for her Gryffindors.  
After Transfiguration ended Sirius was promptly dragged off by James after a quick hug from Remus. The trio—Peter had stumbled along as well—was uncharacteristically headed to the library. They knew the trip would be fruitless though, they had already read everything it had on animagi. It had been five months and they were still no closer to turning into animals. So Sirius, after reading _Complex Transfiguration_ for the fifth time, sighed. What they needed was to finally test the theory.  
But, as James had told him a countless number of time, Peter wasn't ready. Peter still didn't understand the theory. Peter wasn't as good at Transfiguration as they were. Peter was slowing them up, in Sirius's humble opinion. He _needed_ to do this now; Remus _needed_ them now.

* * *

As with any teenage boys, the four Gryffindors began growing. Some (Sirius) much, much quicker than others (Peter). But Remus shocked absolutely everyone. He was positively wolfish the entire time—meaning he growled at everyone; meaning he bit everyone; meaning he was utterly territorial. He terrified everyone. Well, maybe everyone minus one very turned-on Sirius.  
Sirius was utterly at ease with Remus clinging to him; with the occasional bite; with the guttural growls. Now don't get the wrong idea, Sirius adored his meek, bookish Remus. But this animalistic Remus was so alluring.  
Luckily for everyone that wasn't Sirius Orion Black, this Remus only lasted a week—it only lasted until the next full moon. It was the worst transformation the fourteen-year-old had ever gone through. The aftermath consisted of a new facial scar, a broken rib, and a limp. It also consisted of a deeper voice and a few feet. It seemed his lycanthropy had let him skip the awkwardness of puberty.  
Sirius, who wasn't sure what side of Remus to expect, was surprised to find a taller and utterly beat-up boyfriend lying in the hospital wing. "Rem, who put the stretching charm on you?" The amber boy laughed a little, his broken rib instantly regretted it. Sirius frowned a bit as he really looked at Remus's new height. "You better not be taller than me."  
"The Black in you wouldn't let you be shorter than anyone." The heir to the Black fortune smiled and traced the new cut that was on Remus's nose.  
"Does this mean no more growling or biting?" Remus suddenly felt much as he smirked.  
"Only if you don't want it." When Madame Pomfrey okayed Remus's departure, the boys practically flew to the dormitories. As soon as Remus's back hit his red sheets, their lips were attached. Inexperienced fourteen-year-old hands grasped and clawed. Remus's aches were momentarily forgotten, all he felt was bliss. In no time at all their robes and shirts were flung away, and cold hands embraced unsuspecting backs. Sirius let out a dog-like growl as Remus began to rock his hips.  
"Merlin, Rem." The werewolf nibbled on the pureblood's ear.  
"Yes Sirius?" All he could do was growl again. Surprisingly deft fingers began working on his pants. Silver eyes widened, and Sirius disappointed the Black in him. He pulled away from the werewolf.  
"Not yet, Remus. I—" Sirius visibly swallowed his embarrassment. "—I don't think I'm ready just yet." Remus smiled and gave Sirius a chaste kiss.  
"Just don't forget to tell me when you are." The black-eyed boy laughed and mused up Remus's hair.  
"Oh don't worry; you'll be the first to know."

* * *

Lily Evans was quite sure there wasn't a soul on Earth more annoying than James Potter. Third year had replaced his need to please with obsessive stalking. It also increased his arrogance—she had previously thought it was already at impossible levels. Quite frankly, Lily was sick of it. She was also quite sick of his lackeys following her around and talking about how great he was. Lily Evans was just sick of James Potter. So it shouldn't have been a surprise to him when she rejected his invitation to Hosmeade.  
"But Lily, it's the last trip before break!" James was on his knees with Peter, Remus, and Sirius behind him. "Please come with me?" She tossed her flaming red hair aside to glare properly at Potter.  
"No." Lily oHowalked away as James looked in disbelief. Sirius laughed as he patted the bespectacled boy's back.  
"Don't worry, mate. She'll come around." James nodded dully. "Come on, we have to finish packing." This was going to be the worst break ever, James decided. A heart-breaking rejection from the Venus that is Lily Evans was no proper way to start a holiday.


	11. Holiday Cheer

James Potter wasn't the only one with a negative, preconceived notion of break. Sirius did not want to go back home at all. He had no hopes that his mother forgot her anger or that she'd decide to go easy on him. Besides, Remus was staying at Hogwarts, which gave Sirius another incentive to stay. It took everything James had to literally separate the pair at the train station. "Remus, don't make me go." The usually confident boy looked terrified. Even with James pulling on the back of his robes, he clung to Remus like a lifeline. "I don't wanna go."  
"I know, Sirius. But it's not up to me." At last James—with help from a highly reluctant Peter—had separated the love-birds. "Just try and have a good Christmas, okay?" Sirius began to cry, something that was very much out of the ordinary. (He still looked elegant and foreboding though, as he always did.)  
"Owl me every day."  
And then they were separated. The scarlet train slowly moved out of sight, and Remus was left alone on the platform. The amber boy stood and watched the empty track until dusk had begun to unfold. He, just like his friends, did not take joy from this up-and-coming holiday.  
The dormitory was empty and—for the first time since first year—Remus felt lonely. Without really thinking, the werewolf collapsed onto Sirius's bed. He buried his face in the other boy's pillow and curled a fist into the sheets. Sirius's smell overpowered everything; Remus smiled slightly.

* * *

Sirius's welcoming committee wasn't too happy to see him. Kreacher—after bowing considerably for 'Great Master Regulus'—gave a stiff jerk of the head to Sirius and mumbled 'Master Sirius'. It was a shame, Sirius thought. He had never disliked the elf before.  
His greeting at home was much, much worse. As soon as his mother's eyes found him, she was in a rage. "Traitor to my blood!" Sirius winced. "Disgrace of my flesh! How could you do that to us?" Regulus smirked from the sidelines.  
"Do _what_ exactly?" That had been the wrong answer apparently; Walburga gave a stinging smack to Sirius's cheek.  
"What happened to my son?" Walburga's voice betrayed slight sadness—she was never one for family disputes. She loved her boys, really. She just wanted them to see things her way—the proper way.  
"He's still here." Sirius's confident growl finally returned. "He's just a bit smarter." Before his mother could respond, the young Black fled to his room.  
He knocked the back of his head against his recently-closed door. Sirius didn't think he could manage for three weeks.

* * *

Remus's nightmare found him again. Without Sirius—even with his bed—Remus fell prey to the bite again; to the transformations again. The sleeping boy whimpered and struggled. It wasn't long before the horrors ended, and he awoke in cold sweat. Remus needed Sirius far more than he originally thought.  
The amber boy abandoned any thoughts of more sleep and crept into the common room. The fire continued to cackle as Remus curled into a chair with some parchment. Without even considering the time, he began a letter to Sirius. It wasn't very exciting—hell he last saw him a few hours ago—but it made the amber-eyed boy momentarily forget his loneliness. And that was enough.  
It wasn't long after entering the common room that Remus found himself slinking toward the Owlery. Even without the others, Remus felt the thrill of creeping through the castle at night. His bare feet padded the abandoned corridors. The portraits slumbered away, and Remus was at peace. He could only hope Sirius felt the same way.

In fact, Sirius was feeling very much like his boyfriend. The 'cannot fall into a pleasant slumber' part of his boyfriend. Sirius groaned and rolled out of bed. He pushed his rebelliously-placed Gryffindor hangings aside and gazed at the waning moon. His mind began to drift, so he was terribly surprised when he heard tapping. (Terribly surprised meaning Sirius jumped and hit his head.) The slightly bruised boy soon realized an owl was the source of his confusion and beamed. Once he unfurled the scroll his smile grew. His guess was correct—it was from Remus.  
While Sirius was still wasn't happy to be back home, he was content. And that was good enough for now.

* * *

After two days of locking himself in his room, Sirius's hunger became unbearable. He barely made it past the third landing when he ran into trouble. Orion Black looked at his eldest son in surprise—and slight disgust. "What are you doing down here?" Sirius shrugged.  
"Joining the holiday cheer?" A growl issued itself from Sirius's stomach.  
"Sirius Orion Black, if you don't tell the truth so help you Merlin." Sirius winced and turned his silver eyes to the floor.  
"Well this traitorous abomination is hungry." Orion sighed and ruffled his son's hair wearily.  
"You can come down and eat." Sirius smiled and made to go down the steps. "But that doesn't change anything when it comes to your freakish forms of rebellion." The boy's smile faded. 'Rebellion?' he thought, but it wasn't trying to rebel at all.  
To Sirius's utter discomfort, everyone was already in the kitchen. "Well if it isn't my ickle little cousin, Sirius." Everyone including his cousin Bellatrix apparently.  
"Kind of you to join us, brother." Regulus's smirk was completely insufferable. But Walburga's expression really took the cake. Sparks had escaped the tip of her wand and her eyes looked quite ready to pop out of her skull.  
"Finally ready to come down, eh?" She was whispering, but Sirius caught every word. "Finally ready to admit what you are?"  
"I am part of the noble house of Black. My blood is pure." At this point everyone in the room began to smile—it appeared it was all just a phase. "I'm in Gryffindor. I'm gay." The smiles had evaporated by this point. "And I'm in love with my half-blood boyfriend!" The boy never saw the hexes his mother and his cousin sent towards him.

* * *

Sirius's break had somehow only gotten worse from there. The only bearable parts of his days were Remus's letters. And Remus's amazing Christmas gift, of course. Now Sirius was a _tad _materialistic, so the extremely gaudy earrings—"For your 'rebellious' phase"—were right up his alley. In no time at all his ears were pierced and his bags were packed. He was most definitely ready to return to Hogwarts.

The heir to the most Noble and Ancient house of Black returned to Hogwarts much worse than how he left it. He ignored his ails and aches as he rushed to Gryffindor tower. At first he couldn't find Remus anywhere in the common room, and then the amber-eyed boy wasn't in his bed. Sirius began to panic, but then he noticed something odd about his own bed—someone appeared to be in it. The pureblood pushed aside the hangings and sighed in relief when he found Remus. He kicked off his shoes and curled around the werewolf; the sleeping boy subconsciously nuzzled closer to Sirius. "I love you." Sirius hoped Remus was really asleep because, well, the amber boy appeared to be three steps behind Sirius with anything in this relationship.  
Sirius smiled as he drifted to sleep—who would ever have imagined a Black falling first and this hard.


	12. Third YearThe Aftermath

Remus hardly noticed the body curled around him when he woke up. Sirius's familiar smell only lulled the werewolf into a sense of security; he couldn't bring himself to leave the bed. The amber-eyed boy scanned his boyfriend's face and was surprised to find imperfections. Abrasions littered his skin—Remus frowned. He was quite used to finding cuts on his own face, but he had never seen any blemishes on Sirius's flawless Black skin before. Remus lightly traced one of the pureblood's cuts and sighed.  
When Sirius finally awoke Remus was still tracing the cuts. He brushed the werewolf's hand aside and smiled. "They're nothing more than scratches." Remus, used to lying about his own cuts, saw right through Sirius. But before he could say that, the silver-eyed boy crashed their lips together. The werewolf's thoughts melted away as he pressed Sirius even closer. "I missed you, Rem."  
"You too, Sirius."

Peter was a little put off by Remus and Sirius at first. But now he was downright terrified. Before, Remus would ignore Sirius's protest and let Peter hangout with them. Now they were Merlin knows where doing things Peter didn't want to think about. The blonde boy missed the early days of second year. The days before werewolves, animagi, boyfriends, and quidditch—the simpler days. Peter sighed and pouted. None of his friends even noticed the new Wizard's chess set he got for Christmas. Peter Pettigrew was not happy.  
Nor was James Potter. The confident boy had tried his luck with Lily Evans again. His results were no better than they ever were. All James had tried to do was give Lily a box of chocolate frogs. Instead of accepting them, the red-haired vixen scorned him and walked off with Snape. She walked off with _Severus Snape_—James couldn't believe she hung out with the slimeball. So as the boy entered his History of Magic class (as if this day wasn't bad enough already) he was in a sulk.  
The ghostly Professor Binns didn't seem to notice that his most of his students were in a gloom. But that wasn't exactly to be expected, seeing as he didn't even notice his own death. James took advantage of Binns's disinterest and threw a note to a slightly disgruntled Sirius. The black-haired boy was trying to let his boyfriend snog him before James butted in.  
'_Sneak down to the kitchens with me.'_ There was a time when Sirius would've been glad to go anywhere with James. But now the silver-eyed boy was already _busy_.  
_'Trying to snog Remus. Can't.' _Sirius flung the note back. James groaned when he read it.  
_'He's too busy taking notes. Now stop thinking with your dick and come here.' _Now Sirius groaned in frustration, but he knew James was right. So, rather reluctantly, he snuck out the door with James. Remus gave them a disapproving glare, and Peter looked ready to sob at being left behind. James just winked.  
Once the pair reached the corridor James's cockiness faded away. He didn't really have a plan; he was still smoldering from Lily's rejection and needed an adventure with his best friend. The pair moved silently towards the kitchens; a bit awkwardly as well. James didn't want to admit it, but since Remus had replaced him in Sirius's eyes the bespectacled boy felt a bit off. "I had a crush on you, you know." The messy-haired boy tripped over his own feet.  
"What?" To his embarrassment, his voice squeaked. Sirius deliberately kept his eyes from James's.  
"Yeah. First year I practically worshiped you." James awkwardly ruffled his hair. "Don't worry, mate. I've completely moved on." Then Sirius laughed and flung an arm around James's shoulders. "Now what have you been moping about?" James smiled and quite readily complained about girls.  
"It's Lily! She _still_ rejected me." The boys continued bashing girls on their way to the kitchens—the awkward veil had lifted from the pair.

* * *

Third year more or less remained the same from there for our four friends. James still led the pack; Sirius desperately fought his parents influence and clung to Remus; Remus nearly died each month and did his best to match Sirius; Peter tried his hardest not to be left behind. They were all secretly a bit glad when it came to a close. Third year was full of things they were all willing to outgrow.  
But Sirius, as done as he was with school, was most definitely not ready to go home. As the train came closer and closer to Platform Nine and Three Quarters Sirius began to panic—it was Christmas all over again. Remus tried his best to soothe the pureblood, but it wasn't enough. He had done a good job of hiding his fear throughout the year, but now it was creeping out. Sirius was afraid. Remus's 'I'll owl you everyday' didn't help at all. Nor did James's promise to kidnap him.  
Sirius Orion Black was dreadfully afraid for the first time in his life, and he didn't know what to do.


	13. Summertime

Bellatrix was staying the summer with them. Bella—the daughter his mother always wanted, but never got—would be sharing a house with Sirius for two months. He could already tell it would be hell. And, if the first week was anything to judge by, it most definitely going to be. Sirius began a countdown to the first day of school.  
His parents's anger ebbed slightly since Christmas, but that wasn't saying much—a Black rage was formidable indeed. But Regulus and Bellatrix, now they were different stories. Sirius was sure Regulus didn't even care that much; he was sure his baby brother was just in it for the fun. But Bella, well that hate's been there since birth. (Sirius would be the one to inherit the majority of the Black fortune.) She took pure pleasure from this torture; from her cousin's abnormalities. Sirius never thought he could hate anyone as much as he hated her now. He'd get her back for this summer, the silver-eyed boy thought as he limped to his room. He'd get her back.

* * *

Remus's summer didn't start too well either. In fact, it started with a full moon. Afterwards, his parents could hardly look at him. His new cuts filled them with guilt—and a bit of fear, though they'd never tell him that of course. This moon also brought Remus his first gray hair. The werewolf glared at it in the mirror, but that didn't change the fact that he was growing old—much, much too old if you asked him.  
And then there were the letters. Now don't get Remus wrong, he adored Sirius's letters. He just shouldn't have left them lying out. His mother had been cleaning his room when she stumbled across them. Now Elizabeth Lupin was a very practical woman, so she first brushed aside the small signs of intimacy in the letters. (She did know that this Sirius was one of Remus's friends. She just assumed they were close.) But she couldn't ignore Sirius's _expressive _language in some of the more recent letters. The things this boy apparently wanted to do to her Remus made Elizabeth uncomfortable. So, when her startled son entered his room she confronted him.  
"Who is Sirius exactly?" John Lupin, who had been walking with his son, looked at his wife in confusion.  
"My friend from school." Elizabeth passed the letter to her husband; Remus recognized Sirius's scrawl and panicked. "That's _my_ letter!"  
"No friend would say things like that." John's face turned scarlet as his dropped the letter.  
"What is this, Remus?" The amber boy couldn't meet his parents' eyes.  
"A letter." Elizabeth put a hand under Remus's chin and forced his eyes up. "From my boyfriend." She sighed and dropped her hand.  
"What exactly do you mean by boyfriend?" John hoped he had misheard.  
"He's the boy I've been snogging." All three of the Lupins shuffled awkwardly; each hoped one of the others would break the silence. "I'm going for a walk." John and Elizabeth watched their son leave with a new sense of guilt. There were just some things parents never knew how to handle—lycanthropy and homosexuality being most of those things. Remus's mother awkwardly went back to cleaning while his father left for his study. All the Lupins just needed some time.

* * *

James Potter's summer was _almost_ perfect. He slept till the afternoon; flew around on his broom; played a few pranks on his neighbors. But something was missing, and he knew exactly what it was. James had hardly gotten to see his friends. More specifically, he didn't get to see Sirius or Remus—Peter came around every so often. Both boys were essentially in lock-down, and James most definitely didn't like it. He sighed and wondered what exactly was going on at the Black household.

* * *

_ "Confringo!" _Flames erupted from Bella's wand and leaped towards Sirius. The boy—who wasn't allowed to do any magic outside of school—watched helplessly as the fire clung to his clothes. Sirius tried his best to stamp it out as Bella shrieked with laughter. "What's wrong baby Sirius? Feeling a little hot?" She laughed even harder once Sirius yelped in pain—the fire had reached his skin. That gave the boy a push to eradicate the rest of the flames.  
"I'll get you back for this." Bella scoffed in disbelief. "I'll get you for _all_ of this." With one last glare, Sirius slinked away to tend his burns. He looked up at his Gryffindor hangings; he wished he was back home.

* * *

Remus's trunk was packed, his homework was done, and he was ready for Hogwarts. His parents fussed over him: 'Are you sure you're ready?' 'How are your cuts?' 'We can always just apparate you to Hogsmeade later.'. Remus shook his head.  
"I'm fine, mum." The Lupins headed to the train station a little apprehensively. Though they never mentioned this Sirius-boy since the letter incident, they were a little nervous at seeing him. (They knew a Black when they saw one, and they'd most definitely be looking for this one.) The small family pulled up to the station in their beat-up car and submerged themselves in the magical crowd. Remus's head swiveled around continuously as he looked for his three friends.  
"Oh look Remus, it's the Potters." The amber boy smiled and sent a wave to James. But then he returned to looking for Sirius. The very regal Blacks were not that hard to find. His parents' eyes were also drawn to the purebloods. Remus had half-a-mind to head over there, but he was afraid. All of the Blacks—even Sirius to Remus's surprise—had their noses in the air and a smug smirk on their lips. "I'm guessing on those boys is _Sirius_?"  
"Yeah." Remus strained his eyes to study his boyfriend. "The taller one." From this distance Sirius looked like any other Black, but Remus was sure he was missing something. The werewolf was so absorbed in his task that he didn't notice James come up alongside of him.  
"He'll be fine once he's on the train." Remus jumped a bit in surprise. "The Blacks like to avoid scenes, usually—Sirius isn't an exception." James squeezed Remus's shoulder reassuringly—the Lupins looked away awkwardly. "I'll go find Peter and get a compartment." The bespectacled boy slid away and left the small family alone.  
"I should probably get going too. So I don't miss the train or anything." Elizabeth launched herself onto her son before he finished.  
"Oh, Remus. We'll miss you terribly." John also put his arms around his son. "Be careful."  
"Bye mum. Bye dad." Once on the train it wasn't hard for Remus to follow the laughter and find James. The hazel-eyed boy had found Peter and was retelling one of his summer adventures. The rounder boy smiled up at Remus before turning his attention back to James. It wasn't long at all before Sirius joined the compartment. The smirk slid right off his face and a genuine smile took its place. Sirius gathered up Remus in his arms and nearly suffocated him.  
"Hi, Rem." The werewolf smiled.  
"Hello, Sirius." For that moment it was almost like the summer never happened. For that moment everything was alright.


	14. On Punks and Love

It wasn't until after the sorting, after the feast, and after lights out that Remus and Sirius finally noticed the changes. Sirius found the gray hairs Remus tried so hard to hide; Remus found the burns Sirius tried so hard to heal. The perfect reunion they imagined was shattered by reality. Remus's hand ghosted over Sirius's first scars, and fear flashed through those silver eyes. "Shh, you're safe," the werewolf cooed. "You're safe here." Sirius, to his embarrassment, started to cry.  
"Why Remus?" The pureblood fingered Remus's gray locks. "Why all this?" All the werewolf could do was shrug.  
"Come on Sirius. Let's just forgot all of it, yeah?" Sirius's fears were mirrored in those large, amber orbs. The heir of Black bent down and captured the poor werewolf's lips with his own.  
"Yeah, Rem. Now come on, I haven't gotten a proper sleep in months." The pair curled together in Remus's bed. "I love you." Sirius had said it with his face pressed into the werewolf's hair. So he was quite surprised when Remus turned around with wide eyes.  
"What did you say?" Sirius mentally cursed those wolfish ears.  
"Uh, good night?" Remus shook his head. "I love you?" Sirius tried his best to be unheard. The fear and uncertainty returned to Remus's amber eyes.  
"Do you mean it?" To be honest, Sirius thought it was a bit of a stupid question.  
"Of course I do, Remus." The very humbled and shy heir of Black traced the scar that danced across Remus's face. "I mean, you probably already noticed that I'm pretty much obsessed with you." Remus laughed a little before giving Sirius a quick kiss.  
"I can't say I'm ready to say it back just yet. But I will be soon, I promise." Sirius, who couldn't ask for anything more, beamed.  
"Good." The black-haired boy nuzzled closer to his werewolf. "I love you. I love you. I love you." The oddly-coupled pair drifted off to sleep like that: Sirius mumbling declarations of love while Remus smiled lightly.

* * *

Because James had wanted to impress the muggle-born Lily Evans, he took Muggle Studies in third year. He desperately regretted the decision during the first week of fourth year—his teacher had been the _only one_ to assign any homework. Why in the world would he care about muggle fashion trends anyway? James threw his textbook on the table with a groan. Sirius, who was rather bored, picked it up curiously. His puzzled look quickly reformed itself into a mischievous one. "This is genius!" He held up the book.  
"Leather jackets?" Sirius nodded enthusiastically. "What in the hell do you want to be a punk for?" The black-haired boy rolled his eyes.  
"Because they look genius. Can I borrow this?" Sirius was gone before James could properly answer. He was sure nothing good was going to come from this.

James was right. Somehow Sirius had managed to get a hold of muggle clothing and refused to wear anything else. "Black, where are your robes?" Professor McGonagall glared at the torn jeans and neon shirt. Sirius just shrugged.  
"I'm not quite sure, professor. I woke up and my robes were replaced by these." Next to him, Remus groaned.  
"Black, I was most certainly not born yesterday. Detention if you can't find those robes by Thursday." Sirius smirked.  
After class Remus cornered his newly punked-out boyfriend. "What are you doing?" Sirius laughed and ruffled the werewolf's hair.  
"Aren't they genius? The muggles sure can dress." Remus couldn't help but agree. Sirius's longer hair and pierced ears completed the outfit quite perfectly. But the werewolf had to shake off his hormones and reprimand the 'punk'.  
"Genius or not, it's not meant for class." Sirius pouted—adorably Remus noticed.  
"But Rem…" The amber boy also noticed that those pants were rather..erm…_tight_. He suddenly couldn't remember his qualm with the outfit.  
"Oh whatever. Just don't' cry to me when you get that detention." Sirius grinned and gathered up his Remus. "Just make sure your parents don't hear of this. I'm quite certain they wouldn't like it much." Deep down Sirius knew he was right, but he didn't want to think about that just yet. So Sirius laughed it off.  
"Oh, I'll be fine. Now we just need to work on your clothes." Remus grimaced and wriggled out of Sirius's hold.  
"Touch my clothes and you'll be out of a boyfriend." Sirius positively beamed; to him it was like the summer had never happened.

* * *

Sirius's wardrobe change didn't seem to affect his amazing transfiguration skills. The boys—minus one very excluded Remus—began to put the animagi theory to practice. While the pureblood still couldn't transform into an animal, he was much further than everyone else. Sirius had sprouted a tail.  
Sirius's first reaction was not one of satisfaction though. Instead the young wizard flew into a panic. It had taken everything James had to catch the crazed boy. He then had to explain to Sirius that he _meant_ do that—"You know turning into animals and all that.". The black-haired boy felt a bit ridiculous, but a bit proud all the same. He was one step closer to becoming an animagus. He was one step closer to Remus.

* * *

Sirius grumbled as Filch made him clean one last trophy. To McGonagall's anger, the boy never 'found' his robes. So he got the promised detention. It wasn't until another half-an-hour passed before the aching boy was free to go. Sirius didn't stop his grumbling until he was back at the dormitories. There he was slightly upset to find Remus already asleep. The silver-eyed boy slid into bed next to his slumbering mate and kissed his forehead. "I love you."


	15. Of Snogging and Other Things

After that ruthless detention, Sirius 'found' his missing robes. But the pureblood wore them with slight modifications. The professors couldn't do anything more than glare at the boy's distracting pins and clothing. Unfortunately his new choice in clothes did not remain a secret from him parents. As soon as the howler dropped from the owl's talons, Sirius rushed to the doors. The Great Hall only heard Mrs. Black screech "MUGGLE ATTIRE? EVEN MORE DISGRACE!" before Sirius dropped her out a window.  
Remus grimaced as the Slytherin table erupted in laughter. Sirius just ignored them as he sauntered back in. His hands were a bit ashy, but he just causally dusted them off. He looked high in spirits as he settled himself next to Remus. "Too bad I can't actually throw her out a window." James nodded heartily as he piled more food into his mouth.  
"Maybe after that you can come live with me. My parents are always going on about that polite, little, eleven-year-old Sirius." The Black smiled.  
"Sounds perfect Jamsie,—" The bespectacled boy wrinkled his nose at the name. "—but I think I'd much rather shack up with Rem." The werewolf—remembering his parents' uncomfortable view on his relationship—laughed awkwardly. "Speaking of Remus, don't you think it's about time we headed back to the common room?" Sirius threw in an unnecessary wink.  
"I believe you're right, Sirius." The pair threw a hurried 'good-bye' to Peter and James—who was mumbling something about quidditch practice—before rushing out of the Great Hall. 'Heading to the common room' more clearly meant 'heading to the dormitories to snog'. James and Peter both knew this (both having accidently stumbled upon the pair last year) but since they'd rather not think about it, they left it at 'the common room'.  
"Butterbeer." The Fat Lady grinned at her password choice and admitted the boys. They ran to the abandoned dormitories and, quite literally, pounced. The wolf inside of Remus roared as the boy growled himself. In under a minute, the werewolf had Sirius standing in only his systemically-ripped trousers. "Jeeze Rem, going a little fast there yeah?" Remus grinned and trailed his fingers along Sirius's nearly-perfect skin.  
"Still too fast?" There was still some uncertainty in those silver eyes, but Sirius shook his head. The pureblood moved his hands across Remus's robes.  
"No." And then Remus was just as clothed as his boyfriend; and then their lips crashed together. Rather clumsily, the boys tumbled onto one of their beds and clawed at one another. Their unpracticed hands grasped at their respective trousers. Sirius didn't have any trouble, but Remus couldn't get the black-haired boy's pants off.  
"Your pants are too tight." Remus was very frustrated—Sirius laughed.  
"They are not." The werewolf continued to struggle. "Would you like some help?" Remus nodded rather begrudgingly. Sirius had them off in no time at all. After another little laugh, the boy returned all of his attention to his Remus. By this time both of the boys had slowed their paces considerably. The wolf had slipped from Remus's eyes; Sirius's eyes slipped to the scars. Sirius lightly caressed the marred skin. "You're beautiful." Remus laughed a bit bitterly and pushed his boyfriend's hand away.  
"Not with these scars." Sirius shook his head. The pureblood placed his lips on the scar that ran down Remus's face. His lips moved onto the ones that littered the werewolf's shoulders. They progressed to the amber boy's chest. Sirius tried his best to kiss every scar—at one point he turned Remus over to get the ones on his back.  
"Well I like them." Remus laughed as Sirius's breath tickled his lower stomach. "You pull it off nicely." By now Sirius was much, much closer to Remus's boxers; and well, he was sure he stopped breathing. Remus may not have been ready to say 'I love you', but he was sure ready for the next physical step. The werewolf moved into a sitting position so his lips were at Sirius's ear.  
"You know what else I'd like to pull off?" Remus teased Sirius's waistband with his fingers. The pureblood's eyes darkened as he pushed closer.  
"Then why don't you?" The boxers were immediately thrown off, and the boys were grasping in the dark again. Their inexperienced hands teased and tested. Neither could call it the sexiest moment of their lives, but they most definitely weren't disappointed. Afterwards Sirius marveled at the things Remus could do with those hands. The animalistic energy disappeared from the pair as they sleepily snuggled.  
Sirius didn't think he had ever had a larger smile.

* * *

That following moon was one of the easiest Remus had ever had to go through. He almost managed to remain unscathed. In fact, the worst part of that transformation was waking up alone. Since half-way through second year, Remus had always awoken to find Sirius at his bedside. So he was surprised when he didn't spy the silver-eyed boy. He was even more surprised when both James and Peter had said they haven't seen him all night. Remus didn't find his boyfriend until he began a full-castle search. The pureblood was dead asleep on top of the astronomy tower with James's invisibility cloak pulled half-way over him. Remus was extremely surprised to find the Shrieking Shack right in Sirius's line-of-sight.  
Sirius had stayed up all night with him, Remus realized. The amber boy smiled and slid down next to his sleeping mate. "Thank you." It wasn't quite an 'I love you', but Sirius wouldn't have minded if he was awake.


	16. The Prince's Tale

Severus Snape was suspicious. This wasn't saying much though, seeing as the Slytherin was always suspicious. Severus's childhood was _severely lacking_ when it came to most things. So the boy really only trusted two people—himself and Lily Evans. But now, Severus was _really_ suspicious. There just was something off about Potter and his motley crew.  
And, more importantly, Potter had a crush on Lily. Now, Severus was pretty good at hiding things, but he thought his own crush on the fiery red-head was relatively obvious. The Slytherin always knew he never had a chance, but that didn't stop his jealousy. By fourth year, Severus could see that Potter didn't have a chance either; he could also see that the Gryffindor didn't seem to care. Potter thought he'd eventually wear Lily down—Severus was afraid.  
So, the black-haired boy thought he'd take the shot he didn't have a chance at. So, as the green-eyed girl came into view, he went to try his luck. "Hey Lily. Can I ask you something?"

***

"Ten points for Gryffindor!" Remus beamed as his boggart disappeared. Peter looked wearily at the spot it previously stood—the round boy was still secretly afraid of the whole werewolf thing. Sirius smiled as well and gave Remus's hand a quick squeeze. "Now I want five feet on boggarts by Tuesday." The class groaned collectively; James, thinking of the upcoming quidditch match, groaned the loudest.  
"What rubbish. There's no way I can write five feet." James had continued complaining about the Defense Against the Dark Arts's essay as the boys moved to the dungeons. The Slytherins, who were all already gathered by the door, sneered at the disturbance. All but one began to antagonize the four Gryffindors. Severus Snape—usually one of the ringleaders—remained silent with a smirk on his face. Sirius noticed this and frowned a bit.  
"Why so smug _Snivellus_?" Severus just shrugged light-heartedly.  
"Just happy Black." Sirius was just a bit suspicious—he wrapped an arm around Remus's waist. Severus's 'just happy' pushed her way through her fellow Gryffindors. A small, honest smile briefly shone on Severus's face as Lily quickly squeezed his hand. Sirius was sure his jaw dropped down. What surprised the Gryffindor the most was the fact that nobody else has seemed to see the encounter. Sirius made a mental note to investigate.

***

Sirius, with Jame's trusty invisibility cloak thrown over him, waited in the common room for any signs of the red-head. He didn't have to wait long; Lily descended the girls' staircase in haste. The punk followed her closely and tried his best not to make any noise. Lily didn't go far before a pasty face appeared—Sirius's guess was unfortunately right; she had gone to meet Snape. The invisible boy was in shock as a huge smile broke across Severus's face. "Hey Lily." A smile of the same size graced her face.  
"Hey Sev." She gave him a quick kiss, and Sirius was sure he'd seen enough to quench his curiosity. The boy hurried back to the Fat Lady while tearing off the cloak.  
"Butterbeer." He rushed to his boyfriend, whose schoolwork had him taking up an entire table. "Evans and Snape!" Remus looked up entirely confused. "She went to meet him and….and.." The werewolf sighed and closed his book.  
"Sirius, start over from the beginning." The black-haired boy slumped into a chair.  
"I followed Evans." Those amber eyes glared disapprovingly. "And she met with _Snivellus_—Snivellus!" Remus gave him a look that said 'and?'. "And she kissed him!" Sirius opened his arms wide, as if to give Remus room to exclaim in disgust. When he didn't, Sirius let them fall.  
"So?" Sirius was utterly exasperated by his boyfriend.  
"So we have to tell James!" Remus shook his head, which Sirius didn't understand.  
"We can't, Sirius." The pureblood looked ready to shout, but Remus held up a hand. "Telling him will just cause him to lash out, and then he'll never get Lily."  
"James wouldn't be able to either way. Snape has her!" The werewolf shook his head again.  
"They won't last forever. Most school romances don't." Remus's eyes widened—he had forgotten who he was talking to. Snape and Lily fell from Sirius's mind instantly; for that moment he thought his world had just crashed down.  
"Wh-what are you trying to say, Rem? What about us?" Remus slipped over to Sirius and slid on his knees. The werewolf grasped both of Sirius's hands and brought their lips together.  
"_Most_, Sirius. That doesn't mean we're included." The black-haired boy smiled weakly. "We're not exactly an average couple, in case you didn't notice." Sirius laughed a little, but the sound died as the portrait-hole opened again. The previously-discussed redhead gingerly climbed into the common room. She was quite surprised to find Sirius and Remus.  
"Oh hello!" Sirius glared a bit at her, but Remus waved cheerily.  
"On a stroll then, Lily?" The girl-eyed girl blushed and nodded.  
"Just needed a breath of fresh air." Sirius—who knew what she was really doing—made a face of disgust. "Well then, I should probably be off to bed. Goodnight." Sirius shook his head once she left.  
"Why Snivellus of all people? James is definitely a better choice." Remus laughed a little.  
"That he is. But try to forget about it, yeah?" Sirius nodded. "Now bed sounds like a good idea. Don't you agree?" The pureblood—fresh off an adventure—wasn't very tired and was about to protest, but then Remus winked.  
"I most definitely do."


	17. Dog Days

A colossal, black dog bounded along the charms corridor. It barked happily as it wagged its tail. James watched in amusement. "Come on Sirius; give us a chance to try." The dog barked again before pouncing onto James. The force of it caused the bespectacled boy to topple over, with dog in tow. Peter laughed heartily as the giant dog slowly turned into an equally large Sirius. "Get off me, you git!" It seems the silver-eyed boy hadn't heard James, he remained where he was.  
"Did you see that? I was a dog!" Sirius's smile looked ready to split his face in half. "Did you see me, James?" The disheveled boy groaned.  
"Yes we saw you. Now get off." James gave a giant shove, and Sirius ended up sprawled on the floor. "It's my turn." The Gryffindor smirked before screwing his eyes up in concentration. With a distinct _pop_, antlers sprouted from James's messy, black hair. Sirius and Peter erupted in laughter as James turned scarlet.  
"I thought the point was to turn _completely_ into the animal?" James glared.  
"If you don't shove it, I'll run you through with these." Sirius immediately lost all his will to laugh—those looked rather sharp and he liked all his parts where they were. In another moment, James had gotten rid of them. "Returned to my beautiful self, yeah?"  
"Yeah." Peter looked a bit apprehensive. "My turn then?" The blonde-haired boy screwed up his eyes like James did. Minutes began to fly by, and Peter remained the same. After a while he just opened his rather watery eyes. "I just can't get it." Sirius raged a bit inwardly. "I'm sorry, guys." James, always the good friend, threw an arm around Peter's shoulders.  
"You'll get it next time Pete. You just need some more practice." He ruffled those blonde locks before pulling the cloak over all of them.  
Remus felt like an old married woman as he waited for Sirius in the common room. Hours before, his three friends left to 'go to the library'. The amber boy sighed as he flipped through another textbook. He didn't feel excluded—at least not terribly. Nor did he feel jealous—at least not horribly. Remus sighed again; who was he kidding. He felt horribly left out and terribly jealous. Those feelings ebbed slightly as he noticed the portrait hole open, but then returned ten-fold when Lily climbed through. The girl, noticing Remus, slinked over to his table. "Hello there, Remus." Lily flipped through _Advanced Rune Translation_ before glancing up at the empty chair next to the boy. "Where's Black? I thought you guys were attached at the hip." Remus grimaced.  
"Well he said he was going to the library." Lily scoffed.  
"Like Black even knows where the library is." Remus laughed a little. Lily's green eyes narrowed and seemed to search him. "You know, I didn't understand it at first. I thought he'd be a terrible match for you. But you guys are adorable and rather perfect." Blood flooded his cheeks.  
"Th-thanks." The portrait hole opened again, and Remus wasn't disappointed this time.  
"Here's the knight in shining armor now." Lily smirked and floated to the staircase. James spotted her and beamed.  
"Night Lily!" The messy-haired boy waved enthusiastically. The redhead continued on her way without even a glance back, but James sighed in content. "What a goddess." Remus looked away awkwardly. Speaking of Remus, Sirius pushed past James and made his way to the werewolf. Once the punk reached Remus, he dropped to his knees and laid his head in Remus's lap.  
"I missed you." The werewolf ran his fingers threw Sirius's shoulder-length hair.  
"I missed you, too." James and Peter, sensing their presence was unwanted, sunk up to the dormitories. "So, how was the _library_?" The Black uncharacteristically blushed.  
"Full of information." Remus chuckled a little and stopped playing with the raven locks.  
"Really now; who would've guessed?" Sirius's already red cheeks darkened. Remus curved his lips and moved them to the pureblood's ear. "Where were you really?" Sirius shivered as Remus breath danced across his ear.  
"The library." Remus sighed and sat back up. "Really Rem. James was helping Peter with something or other, and he wanted me to tag along." Sirius scooted closer to the werewolf and kissed his palms. "I really don't know why he didn't invite you along." Remus began to play with the raven tresses again.  
"Probably because I told him that Peter's constant need for help has been getting on my nerves." Sirius—who was quite sick of Peter's questions himself—burst out laughing.  
"I told you he was no good."  
"I guess I should listen to you more often." Sirius smirked and climbed even further onto the werewolf's lap.  
"Well I think you should snog me senseless right about now." Remus smiled and did just that. It had been a good day, Sirius thought as he ravished the amber boy.

* * *

Sirius ran and ran and ran. Somewhere along the line he must have lost his shoes, because his bare-feet screamed in agony as they became cut up. The black-haired boy wasn't actually sure what he was running from but he was too afraid of turning around and finding out. Branches—that he was sure weren't there before—began to whip him in the face and scratch his bare arms. His discomfort didn't turn into full-fledged pain until something caught him and yanked him back. Sirius was sure his heart stopped as he was flipped upside down. His pants, that he thought looked super awesome with their trailing attachments, betrayed him and got caught on a branch. The boy began to cry; it looked hopeless, whatever was following him would be sure to catch up now. He practically screamed with relief when a familiar face crept from the shadows.  
"Remus!" The amber boy twisted his lips into a sadistic sort of smile.  
"Hello Sirius." Said boy was struggling as he tried to free himself.  
"Can I have some help?" Remus shook his head slowly and deliberately. Sirius frowned in confusion. "What's going on, Rem?" The boy's teeth noticeably increased in size as he moved closer to Sirius.  
"You messed up the balance, Black." His eyes had grown noticeably brighter. "You thought you could just have it all, didn't you?" His hands morphed into claws. "Thought you could have all the prestige of the family name, all the popularity of the rebel, all of the perks of a monster boyfriend." Remus's hair started to grow at a rapid pace, and all over the place. "Well you thought wrong." The fully-morphed werewolf pounced.

Sirius woke up in a cold sweat, and his heart threatened to pound out of his chest. The pureblood quickly reached for his boyfriend—despite the dream—but he only came up with empty sheets. He began to panic. Sirius, on instinct, reached for James's invisibility cloak; he came up short-handed again. Putting two-and-two together, he realized that Remus had snuck off to somewhere in the castle. Sirius, not knowing where to properly start, headed off to his own favoured astronomy tower.  
Luck seemed to be on his side. Remus's bare-feet dangled over the edge as the boy gazed up at the stars. Sirius sat down next to him. "Please don't leave again." Remus was startled to hear tears in Sirius's voice. "Please." The amber boy engulfed his boyfriend in an embrace. "  
"I won't, Sirius. I promise."


	18. Euphoria

Remus tossed and turned alone in his bed as he tried to sleep. The boy had a free period and had the idea to use it to catch up on much needed sleep. Unfortunately, it evaded him. Remus had even settled himself quite comfortably in Sirius's bed. The werewolf sighed and slid out from under the warm sheets. His feet caught on of one Sirius's brightly coloured shirts and down he went. "Bloody hell!" Remus was tangled in a mass of Sirius's discarded clothing. As he fought his way to freedom, Remus was surprised to find that the punk attire was soft. Against his better judgment, Remus slipped his own shirt off and pulled on one of Sirius's. The ripped garment said something about some sort of clash, but he didn't pay much mind. Remus, with the new shirt, crawled back under the sheets. He tried to sleep once more. This time it didn't pass him by.  
Sirius looked worriedly at the empty seat beside him. Remus had hardly ever missed class for anything less than his lycanthropy. And, as far as the black-haired boy knew, there wasn't anything ailing him. As soon as the class ended, Sirius made a bolt to the door. Slughorn pulled him aside, unfortunately. "Black, seeing as you and Lupin are…uh _close_, do you happen to know where he is?" The professor, who was informed of Remus's _condition_, looked worried.  
"No, Professor. I was actually on my way to look for him." Slughorn nodded and let Sirius pass. The boy darted up all the changing staircases; darted pass a cackling Peeves; he even darted through a ghost or two. When he finally reached the Gryffindor common room he was completely out of breath—Sirius hardly had enough stamina to climb the staircase. Pushing past the hangings on his own bed, he sighed in relief. There was Remus, curled up in Sirius's bed. Even though he looked quite adorable sleeping—in Sirius's humble opinion—the pureblood gently shook him. "Remus." The boy groaned.  
"Five more minutes." Sirius shook him again. This time Remus opened his eyes. "S'matter?"  
"You missed Potions." Those amber eyes shot open.  
"Oh no! What did I miss? It's going to be on the exams, I just know it!" Remus began to wave his arms in panic. Sirius tried his best to calm him.  
"It was just a simple Hiccupping Solution, Rem. Don't worry." The werewolf sighed and slouched into Sirius. Those silver-eyes caught a glimpse of the shirt Remus was wearing—Sirius smirked. "Hey, isn't that _my_ shirt?" The werewolf blushed. "Skipping class and stealing—who knew you were such a criminal."  
"All your influence, no doubt." Sirius smirked and joined his boyfriend under the covers. "What do you think you're doing?" Remus gave the pureblood a shove. "Get out of my bed."  
"I believe this is my bed." Sirius raised an eyebrow mischievously. "And I think I'm trying to seduce my boyfriend." The black-haired boy's hands moved towards Remus's trousers. "I've always wanted to ravish you while you're in my clothes." Remus smiled and moved his hands south as well.  
"Well then, don't hesitate." Sirius smirked—he dove under the covers. He had Remus calling out in pleasure. When the black-haired boy reappeared, he was sure he had never seen anything lovelier. Remus's amber eyes were bright, his hair was disheveled, and his cheeks were flushed—he was gorgeous. "Merlin, I love you." Remus smiled and nuzzled closer to Sirius.  
"And I love you." Sirius beamed.

* * *

Sirius Orion Black was happy. He laced his fingers with Remus and smiled. Gryffindor was leading by a landslide in the quidditch match and all those smug Slytherin bastards—who were rooting for Ravenclaw—were mourning. He had convinced Remus to forgo his homework and watch the game with him. Peter was standing on the seat and cheering James on. When Longbottom finally caught the snitch, all three boys erupted in screams. James—his smile apparent even at the distance—did a few flips on his broom.  
The three boys—James was still changing out of his robes—slipped down to the kitchens. House elves enthusiastically handed them mountains of food. Laden with their treasure, they returned to the common room ready to start a party. When the portrait hole opened, the entirety of the Gryffindor quidditch team pulled the boys in. "CUP CHAMPIONS!" James held the gleaming cup over his head. "WE WON!" The room erupted in cheers. Smuggled bottles of firewhiskey were passed around the room as every Gryffindor celebrated.  
Sirius and James—who of course had a little too much to drink—were standing on tables juggling magic back and forth. The sparks, and occasional explosions, made for quite a show. First years squealed in delight at the whole thing—as did Peter. This all apparently caused too much noise though, because McGonagall climbed into the room in her nightclothes. "That is quite enough! Black, Potter, get off those tables! Pettigrew, what's in that bottle! Longbottom, the cup is _not_ a hat!" All the partygoers quieted down and sheepishly looked down. Peter stashed his firewhiskey behind his back; Sirius and James jumped from the tables; Frank Longbottom took off the quidditch trophy. "Now to bed with all of you." A bit reluctantly, all the students returned to their respective dormitories. McGonagall never noticed that the firewhiskey was still in Peter's hands. The four boys, once settled in their dormitory, took turns finishing the bottle.  
"Jamsie, I want some more." Sirius pouted and eyed the empty bottle. The bespectacled boy shook his head.  
"But I don't have anymore." Peter, for some reason, thought this was hilarious and erupted in laughter. "No more!" Even the previously sedate Remus giggled.  
"Remmmmmm, I'm tired." Sirius's attention quickly turned to the amber boy. He snuggled into Remus's shoulder. "Can we go to bed?" Remus slowly nodded as James yawned. None of the boys made it to their beds though—all four found themselves sprawled across the floor come morning.


	19. Werewolf Woes

Remus John Lupin would never get used to the transformation. He peeled off his clothes, carefully folded them, and stowed them away in the shack. The shack—Remus's home away from home. He grimaced. A sliver of silver caught his eye. It was time. Remus's body tensed in anticipation. Energy rippled underneath his skin; it felt like fire. A guttural scream tore itself from Remus's throat as his bones began to break. Each bone shattered itself and then reformed. Each bone brought Remus one step closer to the wolf. The boy's screams slowly morphed into howls. His mind faded along with the pain. Remus left as the wolf stepped in.

* * *

Sunlight crept through one of the shack's dusty windows. Remus groaned and opened his eyes. His body screamed as he did his best to stand. A few bruised ribs, a broken leg, scratches and bites—Remus sighed as he took an estimate of the damage. He gingerly slipped his clothes back on and slinked through the tunnel. He pressed the knot on the whomping willow and limped back towards the castle. Remus had barely entered the hospital wing when Madame Pomfrey began to fuss over him. "Remus Lupin, get your weight off that foot and onto a bed." The werewolf did as instructed. He was asleep again as soon as his head hit the pillow.

Sirius pushed opened the doors to the hospital wing and ran down to Remus's bed. The werewolf was still slumbering as the pureblood grabbed his hand. "He needs his rest, Black."  
"I know, I know. I just want to wait with him." Madame Pomfrey smiled to herself. She continued on her rounds and let Sirius keep watch. The black-haired boy began to play with Remus's amber locks while he waited. He nuzzled his face into Remus's stomach. "Wake up soon, Rem. Okay?"  
Time passed and Remus was still asleep. Sirius was shooed out by Madame Pomfrey—"Don't you have class young man?".  
When Sirius was finally able to return to Remus, the werewolf was still sleeping. The pureblood sighed and brought a hand to Remus's cheek. "Please Rem, wake up." There was no change. Once again Madame Pomfrey made Sirius leave for class. James—who was also quite worried about the werewolf—frowned when he saw Sirius return without a smile. He had never known Remus to be out this long before.  
"Any change?" Sirius shook his head sullenly. James threw an arm around his best friend's shoulders. "He'll be okay, Sirius."  
When dinner finally ended, Sirius nabbed James's invisibility cloak and snuck into the hospital wing. Remus was still asleep. Sirius slid in behind him—while trying his best to keep the cloak on. He gingerly nuzzled Remus's bandaged shoulder. "Get better, okay?" The pureblood didn't sleep that night.  
With the morning came James and Peter. They had been hoping to find Sirius; they were disappointed. The bespectacled boy slumped into a chair. "Don't you think Sirius is going round the bend a bit?" Peter was still terrified of the other boy—even without his presence. (Well, actually, Sirius _was_ present. The silver-eyed boy, after hearing his own name, decided to remain under the cloak.) James looked up at Peter in surprise.  
"Course not. A bit obsessed maybe." James frowned in thought. "And a bit overprotective. And a bit rash. But not crazy." Peter sighed and moved his gaze to Remus. (Sirius frowned at James's words.)  
"Think about it James. He's in _love_ with a _werewolf_. It's not even a normal relationship! It's parasitic!" James had opened his mouth to argue, but stopped as a strange sound drifted from Remus's bed. It sounded like growling. The hazel-eyed boy, putting two-and-two together, gripped the 'air' next to Remus. He was only slightly surprised to find Sirius.  
"Have you been here all night?" Sirius nodded. Peter, at seeing the boy he was just talking about, looked horrified. The blonde-haired boy let out a squeak. Sirius rounded on him.  
"So Peter, why don't you finish what you were saying?" He let out another squeak.  
"Leave him alone, Sirius. He's just concerned; we're worried about you." Sirius scoffed. "We are! We know you care about Remus, but you can't do things like this. You can't just run off by yourself." Now Sirius was quite ready to say 'watch me' and leave, but Remus wasn't.  
"He's right." Sirius heart stopped for a second. "You shouldn't worry so much." The black-haired boy dove to Remus's side. Remus winced as he shifted into a sitting position, but his small smile stayed. "See, I'm fine."  
"Rem, you were out all yesterday." The werewolf didn't look concerned at all. Sirius fingered one of Remus's new, grey locks. "You looked so awful laying there."  
"That doesn't mean you should stay here all night." Sirius pouted. "And—" Remus breathed into Sirius's ear. "—you should apologize to James. He was just worried." The pureblood kissed Remus's cheek before turning back to James.  
"You're right, James. I was just freaking out a bit." James smiled and ruffled his hair.  
"I know you big git." Sirius felt a tug on his hand.  
"I love you." Sirius smiled almost entirely reassured.


	20. Exams and Growing Up

Severus Snape glared at our four Gryffindors. Lily did her best to soothe the Slytherin, but they weren't making things any easier. Every so often James or Sirius would aim a hex at Snape, and sometimes they'd hit their mark. Peter howled in laughter; Remus tried his best to ignore them. "They're just prats. Just ignore them, Sev." Sirius sneered  
"Yeah, _Sev_. Don't pay us any mind." Lily made a 'hurmph' sort of noise and tossed her hair.  
"Shove off, Black." It was Severus's time to soothe. He laced fingers with the red-head and put his other hand on her back. James dropped his wand in shock.  
"Evans...?" The bespectacled boy looked wounded. Sirius, who had done his best to shield James from this, looked distraught.  
"Yes, Potter?" The boy shook his head, retrieved his wand, and left. His motley crew followed soon after—Peter shot the slightly confused couple a glare before leaving. Sirius threw an arm around James's shoulder.  
"Her and _Snivellus?_" James couldn't believe it. "But why? But how?" Sirius gave the confused boy a half-hug.  
"Sooner or later she'll see her mistake and come around." James sighed. "You know girls. She's probably just going a bit crazy."  
"With Snape?" James had apparently not heard a word of what Sirius said. "What does he have that I don't?" Sirius shrugged.  
"Greasy hair and a big nose?" James laughed a little.  
"I guess I better stop showering." Sirius ruffled the other boy's hair affectionately. "Come on. Now we need a few new ways to annoy Snivellus."

* * *

Sirius found Remus to be terribly short in supply during the weeks before exams. The black-haired boy never studied, so he had little need of the library. Unfortunately, his boyfriend practically lived there. Sirius moped around the common room and got on everyone's nerves. His pranks started to become a little more than harmless; his jokes a little bit cruel. He was getting restless and irritable—he couldn't help it, he constantly said. He was just a bit bored, he constantly said. He was just having some fun, he said. Everyone was a bit sick of him.  
"Remus you gotta take him with you." The werewolf looked at James in surprise. "Everyone here is beginning to threaten him with curses." Remus sighed.  
"Alright. We'll be in the library, then." The amber boy walked over to Sirius and laced their fingers. "Sirius, why don't you ever join me in the library?" Remus's voice sounded like he was on the brink of tears—James admired the werewolf, his acting skills were excellent. Sirius, afraid that he had upset his lover, paled.  
"Oh Rem, I didn't mean to offend you. I just thought you'd want quiet to study in." Those amber eyes began to water, but James saw the beginnings of a smirk on closer inspection.  
"I don't need quiet. All I really need is you." Sirius pulled Remus into a suffocating hug.  
"I won't ever leave you alone again." The werewolf groaned inwardly. "Now, off to the library." The black-haired boy dragged his mate out of the common room. James smiled in relief; now he could have some quiet.

* * *

Rows of students from every house scribbled furiously. Each witch or wizard tried their best to remember the ingredients for a Shrinking Solution; the incantation for the Cheering Charm; the qualities of a Boggart. Luckily for all their nerves, this was the last exam. The last thing standing between all of them and summer. Peter Pettigrew, who was never very good at remembering things, looked quite terrified of every question. His shifty eyes darted from neighbor's paper to neighbor's paper hoping to catch some answers.  
James, who had finished quite long ago, saw this and chuckled a little. Peter may be his friend, but he was extremely needy. The quidditch star looked around for Sirius, hoping the other pureblood would be done as well. He wasn't disappointed. Sirius looked haughty and bored. When James finally caught his attention, the silver-eyed boy smirked. He rolled his eyes and gestured towards the exam; to James this clearly said 'Too easy'. The bespectacled boy nodded in agreement. He was about to 'say' something else, but then he noticed Peter's frantic gestures in the corner of his eye. James looked over with a questioning glance. Peter held up three fingers and then five fingers—to signal his confusion on question thirty-five. James, who was too lazy to flip through his own exam, just shrugged and mouthed 'newt's eye'. What did he care if it was wrong?  
As soon as the professors excused them Peter ran up to James. "Thanks, I was completely stuck." James smiled nonchalantly.  
"It was nothing." Remus frowned a bit in disapproval, but didn't say anything. "Now who's ready for some freedom?" The four Gryffindors grinned and ran out to the lake. The sun was shining and they were almost fifth years. Sirius wrapped his arms around his boyfriend's waist and rested his chin on his shoulder. They never noticed Lily taking a picture. (As much as she disliked like Black, she always considered herself and Remus on friendly terms.)  
"This is it," she said. Deep down she knew—as did everyone else—fifth year marked a change. Nothing could ever honestly be the same; fifth year would mean growing up, moving on. Severus grimaced a bit and hugged his girlfriend. He knew she was right, and he hated it. So, he took a picture too. If this was it, he wanted proof that everything beforehand had actually happened.


	21. Greyback

Almost every other student had already gotten off the train. But Sirius and Remus weren't ready to just yet. The pair were intertwined and were quite desperately clutching one another. "Hey Remus?"  
"Yeah, Sirius?" The pureblood didn't respond right away—he wanted to extend this goodbye as much as possible.  
"I love you." Sirius breathed in Remus's scent—this whole dog animagus thing was really working out to his advantage—and sighed contently.  
"I love you, too." The werewolf pressed their foreheads together; he wanted another look at those brilliant, silver eyes.  
"Come on, fairy. It's time to go." Regulus sneered at the scene. Sirius sighed and gave Remus one last kiss. The pair of Blacks found Kreacher and quickly left. Remus remained on the train just a bit longer before searching for the Lupins. They also left quickly. Summer had officially started and the lovers were anything but excited.

Severus and Lily (the other 'it' couple of the moment) were different. They had been lucky enough to have been neighbors since birth. This was the only time they had without the rest of the school; this was the only time they had without the Gryffindor and Slytherin hostilities. Severus smiled as the red-head squeezed his hand. "I'll see you tomorrow."

* * *

Orion smirked a bit at his son's getup. The wizard remembered dressing up like a muggle himself at that age—of course he would never tell Walburga this. Him and his friends thought it was pretty good kicks. So, the head of the noble and ancient House of Black thought his wife was overreacting a bit; she had threatened to transfigure all of Sirius's clothes into frogs. But Sirius didn't seem as worried as his father. The boy just rolled his eyes and climbed the stairs.  
Orion looked up at the retreating figure and frowned in thought. This couldn't be the same, terrified boy of last summer. But the boy's regal looks—somehow exaggerated by the chaotic-looking muggle attire—proved him to be the same Sirius. Walburga shrieked up at the boy; Orion wondered where they went wrong.  
Sirius's indifferent look morphed into a smile when his door swung shut. He knew something his family didn't—he could do something his family couldn't. The boy's body changed into one of a massive, black dog. Sirius wanted to bark and frolic, but his still-human mind told him that'd be a bad idea. So, he settled for wagging his tail. This summer wouldn't be as bad as last year's; he'd make sure of it.

* * *

For having such high expectations of summer, Severus was quickly let down. His usual Slytherin gang appeared in Spinner's End and pretty much ruined the summer. Avery, Mulciber, Rosier, and Wilkes smirked as Severus's face fell upon opening the door (he had been hoping for Lily). "Why so down, Snape? Expecting someone else?" Severus scowled but slid out of the house to join them.  
"Aha. There's not anyone he _could_ be expecting. The only other student here is that pretty, little mudblood." Severus clenched his fists. "Though, maybe _we_ can pay her a visit. Have a bit of fun, yeah?"  
"Leave her alone," Severus growled. The Slytherins looked at him in shock. But then a small leer appeared on Rosier's face.  
"Sounds like Snape has a little crush. And, looks-wise, I don't blame you." The boy winked. "But she's Potter's girl, ain't she? Not worth the time." Severus, Lily's _real_ boyfriend,growled again.  
"Maybe in his dreams." The Slytherins chuckled darkly; Rosier threw an arm around Severus's shoulder.  
"That's the spirit. Now come on Snape, let's all have a bit of fun." And so all the Slytherins proceeded to _have a bit of fun_; they all proceeded to mayhem.  
As soon as his 'friends' left, Severus ran the entire way to Lily's house. Even though he was with them throughout the day, he had a fear they did something to her. In short, he was afraid. So, when Lily opened her front door, she found an out-of-breath and nearly –crying Severus. "Sev?" The boy engulfed her in a hug.  
"Hey Lily." He knew his luck would be up soon; Severus just wanted to enjoy it for as long as he could. "Would you like to take a walk?" Lily nodded and gave her boyfriend a kiss.  
"Are feeling alright, Sev?" He smiled a little.  
"Yeah. I just missed you."

* * *

Remus John Lupin secretly hated his father. You could never tell if you watched the pair though. Looking at the boy, you saw a loyal son; no one ever noticed the blame and fury underneath the cool exterior. Remus blamed his father for just about everything. His robes were shabby because his father was constantly out of work; his was shy because his father constantly called him a monster; he was a werewolf because of his father. (Well Remus had no real reason to blame the last part on his father. But his mother always did, so he did too.) As the amber-eyed boy prepared his cage for the next full moon he brooded. His parents had brought up their disapproval of Sirius again, and they had called him a monster.  
In short, Remus was upset and angry. In short, he was easily impressionable. The shadowy figure waiting in the wings saw his chance. His grizzled, gray hair was matted with something that looked suspiciously like blood; his eyes were red; his grin was predatory. "Hello Remus Lupin." Remus jumped in surprise.  
"H-he-hello?" The stranger smirked. "Do I, uh, kn-know you?" He nodded his head with a smile.  
"Oh we're old friends, Remus. Don't you remember?" The stranger moved closer; Remus could smell his rank breath. "I'm practically a father to you." Remus shook off the hand the stranger placed on his shoulder.  
"Who are you exactly?"  
"Why Fenrir Greyback—king of the werewolves." Remus's blood froze. He subconsciously moved his hand to the scar that ran down his face. "I like to keep tabs on my _investments_." Greyback placed his hand back on Remus's shoulder and moved his lips to the boy's ear. "And what a pretty little investment you're turning out to be." Remus shuddered as his brain whirled. He had always pictured a scared, confused werewolf stumbling upon him by accident. But here was this primal-looking werewolf calling him an investment.  
"Excuse me?" Remus tried to shove him away. Greyback just laughed, left go of Remus's shoulder, and grabbed both of the boy's wrists.  
"Which part would you like me to repeat, _Remus_?" The boy shuddered again, but remained silent. "I hope you're enjoying my gift." Remus's eyes narrowed—this man couldn't be serious.  
"Gift? I'm a monster." Greyback dug his claw-like nails into Remus's wrists and chuckled darkly.  
"You'll see someday kid. You'll call it a gift when you realize the power you have." That rank breath invaded Remus's mouth. "Mmm, has anyone told you how delicious you smell?" Greyback's lips moved towards Remus's neck. "I could eat you right up." The grizzled man bit down—Remus screamd. (For Merlin's sake, he wasn't even in wolf form.) Remus's cry caught his father's attention; John Lupin stumbled upon the werewolves. He paled when he recognized Greyback. The primal man released his 'fangs' from Remus, but still held his wrists. "Well if it isn't John. Long time no see, old fellow."  
"Put him down!" Greyback laughed; who was he to listen to some wizard. "I swear if you said anything to him, I'll kill you!" The werewolf smirked.  
"Said what to him, John?" John paled even further. "Something like 'this is all your father's fault'? Something like 'he could have saved you'? Something like that John?" Remus was speechless. Greyback, seeing that he mucked things up enough for today, let go of Remus. "I'll be seeing you again soon enough, my pretty little monster." And then it was just the father-son pair.  
"Was he telling the truth, dad?" John couldn't bring himself to look at his son. "Dad?"  
"It's a war, Remus. You have to understand, everybody had to make sacrifices." Remus stood on shaky legs.  
"Sacrifices? You heard him, I'm a _monster_." Remus left his father; he didn't want to hear anymore. Tears prickled at those amber eyes. The only thing the werewolf wanted at the moment was a hug from a certain punk.


	22. I Promise

According to Sirius's calendar, he had one more day until the start of fifth year. He was ecstatic. The boy was even looking forward to seeing Peter—this was due to James's last letter. The bespectacled boy had achieved a full animagus and Peter was almost there, or so his letter said. Either way, Sirius was excited. Just one more day until fifth year; one more day until he saw Remus again.  
James's bags were packed, his quidditch captain badge shone, and he was an animagus. He was ready for anything the world was going to throw at him. James smiled and ruffled his hair. Yeah, he was ready for anything.  
Peter frowned in concentration. With a distinct _pop_ a worm-like tail appeared, but that wasn't good enough. He closed his eyes again. This time Peter felt shrinking. Looking in the mirror he found a grotesque cross between a man and a rat. Peter smiled; he had never been able to transform this much ever before.  
Remus looked at his prefect badge in confusion. The werewolf didn't understand why Dumbledore choose him. Sure he wasn't exactly as bad as Sirius or James, but he did cause quite a bit of trouble. Remus sighed and stowed the badge in his trunk. His gaze fell on a picture of himself and Sirius that Lily had taken last year; he smiled. Prefect or no prefect, he would get to see Sirius again.  
Lily beamed at her badge. She knew it was coming, but that didn't stop her joy. To say that the red-head was excited for fifth year would be an understatement. OWLs, prefects, Hogsmeade; what wasn't there to look forward to?  
Severus was not looking forward to his return to Hogwarts. Usually the dark boy was overjoyed—Hogwarts was more of home to him than Spinner's End ever was. But this summer was absolutely amazing. He had gotten to see Lily everyday; there was no Potter; and Severus was at peace. So, for the only time in his life, Severus wasn't looking forward to school.

* * *

The Lupins seemed a bit off to James as he watched the family on the platform. So did the Blacks, the bespectacled boy noted. The first family had barely said anything; the second was uncharacteristically causing a scene. Sirius—in his punk attire—was yelling at his mom. She had started calling him a disgrace, an abomination again; he just couldn't take it anymore. "Would you shut up!"  
Remus, upon recognizing his boyfriend's voice, focused his attention on the pureblood. "I don't want to hear it anymore!" Sirius's eyes found Remus— 'come here' he mouthed. The amber boy slipped away from his parents—who weren't looking and became rather worried when they found him missing.  
"You insolent boy! Just who do you think you're talking to!" Sirius felt a hand slid into his own. Walburga's eyes caught the interlaced hands. "We're in public! What do you think you're doing?" Sirius smirked.  
"Saying hello to my boyfriend." The black-haired boy turned to Remus and crashed their lips together. Walburga shrieked in anger; someone (James) began to clap. The Lupins, following the commotion, found their son.  
"Remus! What are you doing?" It was Remus's turn to smirk.  
"Just saying hello." The mothers tried tugging at their sons, but the hands remained joined. "Bye mum." Sirius didn't say anything to his own parents. The lovers left their families behind and boarded the train. For a moment they were together, and everything was as it should be. But then Remus had to go to the prefect compartment, and they were separated. Sirius sulked in his compartment as James and Peter went on about their summers. The punk had hoped that this train ride would be the light at the end of the tunnel; instead he was alone. Sirius groaned, and Peter looked a bit annoyed. He stood by his previous words—it was parasitic.  
Remus had a hard time concentrating on the Head Boy's speech. He was tired, annoyed, and missed his friends. So, when he was dismissed for 'prefect duty', Remus sought out Sirius. The pureblood seemed to instantly perk up when the door slid open. He tackled Remus into a hug and buried his face in the other boy's chest. "I missed you." The werewolf smiled and threaded his fingers in Sirius's shoulder-length hair.  
"I missed you, too." James pretended to gag. The four friends laughed.

* * *

Sirius kissed the inside of Remus's neck. He frowned as the skin felt smooth, like a scar. "Rem, what's this?" Sirius trailed his fingers over the imperfection. Remus, remembering the incident, winced and pushed the pureblood's hand away.  
"It's no-nothing; just fr-from my tra-transformation." That stutter—Sirius hadn't heard that stutter in a long time. He gently tilted Remus's chin and made eye contact.  
"Remus, that's a bite mark. We both know you can't reach your neck." The amber boy blushed and averted his eyes. "Please tell me the truth."  
"It was..w-was—" Tears began to flow from those amber eyes. "—another wer-werewolf." Sirius pressed their foreheads together and moved his hand down to Remus's back. The pureblood rubbed comforting circles on the werewolf's back. "He to-told me that he w-was the one. The o-one who bit me." Sirius's hand paused in surprise. "He told me that it wa-was on purpose. He told me that it was all bec-because of my dad." A sob escaped his throat.  
"Shh, Rem. It's okay." Sirius pressed his lips to Remus's forehead. "I'm here. I won't let him near you ever again." Remus clutched at Sirius's shirt.  
"He wasn't ev-even in wol-wolf form." Sirius clutched Remus to his chest. "He bit me."  
"I'll kill him if he ever tries to touch you again. I promise." Sirius was completely serious. Remus snuggled into Sirius. "I promise, Remus."


	23. Animagi

Madame Pomfrey sent an urgent message to Remus on their third day back. Since she didn't trust anyone else's medical-magical abilities, she wanted to give him a look over. So, as the werewolf left for the hospital wing, James schemed. "The time has come my little friends." Peter looked at him in confusion. "Now that Remmy's gone, we can finalize our transformations." Sirius brightened at this news. The silver-eyed boy scribbled Remus a note—'In case you get back first: we've gone to steal snitches. '—and slipped under James's invisibility cloak. They awkwardly shuffled towards the 'broken mirror' on the third floor. James, on finding the coast to be clear, pressed his hand to the glass and slipped through; Peter and Sirius swiftly followed. The cavernous room was a discovery James and Remus made in their second year—every since then, the boys had frequently visited it.  
"Now Jamesie, why don't you go first?" James smirked and winked. Where the boy previously stood, there was now a majestic stag in his place. "Wicked." Sirius cautiously approached and stroked its antlers. "Your turn, Peter." The blonde-haired boy looked extremely nervous, but also extremely determined. He screwed up his eyes in concentration, and Sirius waited. A rat appeared in Peter's place.  
Sirius beamed and picked up the rodent. "Wonderful job, Peter." And then a massive, black dog joined the crowd. They finally did it; they were finally fully-fledged animagi.

* * *

Remus was a bit suspicious. Sure Sirius was usually a naturally-happy person, but this was a little too much—the pureblood was nothing but smiles. "Why are you grinning like that?" Sirius shrugged and gave Remus a kiss.  
"Just happy." Now if it were a normal boy, Remus would suspect an affair or something else or the sort. But Sirius never left Remus alone for more than a few minutes—not enough time to be seeing anyone else.  
"Why the giant grin then?" The smile grew.  
"Because I'll be in a passionate snog-session with this extremely good-looking boy in a second." And then Sirius launched himself on Remus. The werewolf knew that something else was still up, but he was too distracted to care at the moment. They grabbed and clawed at each other intensely; they pretty much forgot they were still in the common room.  
"Hem hem." James did his best to keep a straight face. "Get a room you two." Sirius broke off only for a second.  
"This is a room, last time I checked." James shook his head—those two. Someday he'd be like that (with the very lovely Lily Evans he hoped). Speaking of the vixen, she just climbed through the portrait-hole. "Alright Evans? Your stroll find you well?" Lily was in shock. Usually this was when Potter would warn her of 'smearing _Snivellus_'s grease on herself'.  
"Perfectly so, Potter." Maybe he was finally growing up, she thought. James beamed to himself as the redhead left; she actually _answered_ him.

* * *

The moon was quickly approaching—the wolf inside of Remus wouldn't let him forget that. Class pushed on, but all Remus wanted to do was give into his animal instinct. Give in to his urge to claw; hunt; kill. The werewolf shook his head to put his thoughts back on tract and focused on the board. James noticed his friend's discomfort. "Is it your furry little problem?" Remus laughed a little.  
"Course it is; it's that time of month again." James scowled, but not as much as he usually would have. He had a trick up his sleeve. He had something that would make this transformation the easiest Remus would ever experience—at least he hoped it would. Sirius—upon noticing that his best friend and boyfriend were talking and upon feeling insanely jealous—discreetly wrapped an arm around Remus's waist.  
"Try not to worry about it too much Rem, I got a surprise for you later." Remus was undeniably curious.  
"What kind of surprise?" Sirius laughed a little.  
"Now if I tell you, it won't be a surprise anymore." The werewolf huffed and remained silent for the remainder of class.  
After dinner later, the amber boy dragged Sirius back to their dormitory. "Now Mr. Black, I suggest telling me about that secret." Sirius smiled, kissed Remus, and then closed his eyes. Remus practically fell over from shock when a massive dog took his boyfriend's place. The dog barked and bounded over to Remus. It nudged the boy's hand while wagging its tail. "But why?" The dog barked again and licked Remus's hand.  
"For you." Remus's head spun around to find James and Peter. "He wanted to learn for you. Werewolves are not threat to animals." Tears began to brim at those amber eyes. James became a stag; Peter became a rat.  
"Thank you." Remus tried his best to hug all three of his 'animal friends' at once—by this point, tears were running down his cheeks. "Thank you so much." Sirius licked Remus's cheek before transforming back into a boy.  
"There isn't anything I wouldn't do for you, Remus." Remus smiled as Sirius wiped away his remaining tears.  
"Merlin Sirius, I love you." The werewolf turned to the stag and the rat. "You guys are the best friends any werewolf could ask for."

* * *

Remus couldn't remember much from his transformation. But he could recall three mismatched animals; he could recall his friends. The werewolf smiled as Madame Pomfrey fussed over him. It was one of the easiest transformations he had ever gone through. And, well, he had the best friends in all of the world.


	24. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs

Sirius felt the snitch push at his closed fist. He felt the golden orb struggle for its freedom. The pureblood let it go and watched it zip around his closed four-poster bed. He glanced at the still-sleeping Remus before capturing the snitch once again. Sirius sighed and turned his thoughts to _that letter_. That letter Remus received earlier; that letter Remus tried to hide from Sirius; that letter Sirius read anyway.  
_Dear Remus,  
Your father and I both hope fifth year is treating you well. We also both  
hope that you've finally come to see Greyback's words as the slander they are.  
We love you very much and would never have let this happen to you if there  
really_ _was a choice involved. _  
_I also want to warn you about that Black boy I know you're fond of.  
I know you won't want to hear this—first 'love' is truly blinding—but just  
remember that I 'm trying to look out for you here. I've heard some nasty things  
about that boy, and, quite frankly, I don't think he sounds very 'safe'. Your father  
and I highly recommend cutting off all ties. Like I said, I know this will be hard; he  
is your first 'love' after all. But you have to trust us on this one, it will be better for  
you in the long run. We're just looking out for you over here.  
Love, as always,  
Mother.  
_  
Sirius felt sick after reading it. Is that what Remus's parents thought of him? A _nasty, nasty_ boy? And what was that whole business with putting love in quotations—did Remus's mother really think this wasn't real? All-in-all Sirius wished he hadn't sneaked a look at the letter. He released the snitch for good and placed a kiss on Remus's forehead. The pureblood just hoped his werewolf wasn't secretly a mother's boy.

* * *

Remus stared at the blank piece of parchment. He knew he had to answer his mother, he just didn't know what to say. "You're wrong"; "I'll do what I want"; "I don't want to hear it"? Remus was at a loss for ideas. The werewolf felt a hand caress his shoulder—he smiled a bit. "I missed you, Sirius." The black-haired boy grinned and slid into the adjacent chair.  
"What you working on?" Remus grimaced.  
"I'm trying to find a polite way to tell my mother to piss off." The werewolf was taken completely by surprise when Sirius squealed and engulfed him in a hug.  
"I love you so incredibly much." Remus was catching on.  
"You saw that awful letter, didn't you?" Sirius nodded. "Ahah. I would've thought you'd realize I would think it's rubbish. There's no way you're getting rid of me now."  
"Good." He gave Remus a small kiss. "I had absolutely no intentions of letting you go quietly."  
"By the way, how in the world _did_ you see the letter?" Sirius smirked and shook his head.  
"I'm not a marauder for nothing." Remus wrinkled his nose.  
"Why in the name of Merlin are you actually calling yourself that?" The animagus shrugged.  
"I like it. It's quite catchy, and it's quite true." The werewolf laughed and laced their fingers together. James did a good job with the name selection. He just hoped James also did a good job at the nicknames they 'needed'.

* * *

James groaned in frustration as his pile of failed ideas grew. Who knew naming things was so hard? But they _needed_ super-cool, new nicknames to go with their new, super-cool group name. James _needed_ to truck on. Peter had long ago joined his friend at the table, hoping to be of assistance—so far he had been no help. "Rat-boy?" James looked up at Peter desperately. "What about Rat-boy? What do you think?" Peter wrinkled his nose in disgust.  
"Sorry James, but that's awful." James hit his head against the table. "Why don't you try something that's not as direct?" The bespectacled boy thought over everything he knew about rats.  
"Cheese-lover?" Peter shook his head. "Wormtail?"  
"You know what, that's not half-bad." Peter frowned in thought. "I like it." James, who was half-kidding when he said it, grinned. One down, three more to go.  
"Quick, get Sirius and Remus!" The blonde-haired boy saw the pair retreat to the dormitories. So he was rather reluctant to disturb them.  
"Uh, maybe in a bit chief. They're kinda _busy_." James waved his hand.  
"Their hormones can wait. This is much more important." He left Peter at the table and went to get the lovers himself. The messy-haired youth banged on the door. "Oi! I need you guys right away!" James heard mumbled curses and a small thud. A very disheveled; a very shirtless; and a very irritated Sirius opened the door.  
"What in the hell do you want, Potter?" James grabbed Sirius's wrist and dragged him down the stairs. (A few third-year girls squealed at the site of Sirius's bare chest.) Remus followed.  
"Nicknames. So far Peter's Wormtail." Sirius looked utterly furious—why did James have to interrupt him for something so trivial. "I need you two here for proper evaluation." James studied the furious lovers. "Shaggy? No, no. Fluffy? Definitely not. Padfoot?" James apparently thought higher of that one because he turned to Sirius for his opinion. The silver-eyed boy tried to forget his anger and gave it some thought.  
"I actually quite like it." James beamed and turned his attention to Remus. The werewolf was not so forgiving—the moon was merely days away, which just added to his irritability.  
"Ready, Rem?"  
"If you don't make this fast, I might just kill you." James giggled uncertainly. The full moon must be close, he thought. That's it!  
"Moony!" Remus was taken aback by James's enthusiasm. "Yeah?" Remus mulled it over a bit wearily.  
"Good enough, I suppose." The werewolf began to tug at Sirius's hand. "Can we leave now?" James frowned a bit.  
"Don't you want to help and give me a nickname?" Remus sighed as Sirius's face lit up.  
"Prongs." Sirius smirked and began to lead Remus up the stairs. "Good, right?" James smiled and nodded. The lovers disappeared from sight as Peter returned to his homework. It was the birth of Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs; it was the birth of the marauders.


	25. Fear

Lily frowned as she watched the Slytherin table. She constantly told Severus that she didn't approve of his _friends_, but yet she still saw them all together. Her lovely lips were still downturned when the Slytherin joined her. "What's wrong, Lil?" She blushed—she didn't think she was that easy to read.  
"I just don't like them, Sev." He frowned; she laced their fingers together.  
"I know. I don't really like them either." Anger flared in her green eyes.  
"Then why do you keep them around?" Severus blushed a bit and placed is other hand on her cheek.  
"Because I need them, Lily. I wish I could say I didn't, but they're all I have in my own house." He let his hand fall. Lily stood on her toes (Severus had grown a bit over the summer) and put her lips to his. He hesitated; she noticed.  
"They're why you hide us, aren't they?" Severus wanted to deny, he desperately wanted to deny it. But she was right. "I know what they think of muggle-borns; you're ashamed." She couldn't have been more wrong. Severus let go of Lily's hand. The redhead looked distraught until he brought both of his hands to her face.  
"As if I could be ashamed of the most wonderful girl in this castle." Blood flowed into her cheeks. "I'm just afraid, Lil. They're not exactly the best people." He pressed their foreheads together. "I just want you to be safe."

* * *

Remus scratched the top of the dog's head as he studied; Sirius thumped his tail against the floor. Lately the pureblood preferred lounging around the dormitory as a dog—no one else minded the new calm. Remus scribbled out a few incorrect sentences and continued his Potions essay. The hair threaded between his fingers still felt silky, he never noticed Sirius transform back into a boy. "So Moony, since we're both dogs and everything….I was thinking we see how _compatible_ we are next full moon." Remus could hear Sirius's smirk.  
"Doesn't sound like a good idea, Padfoot." Sirius groaned and nuzzled into Remus's leg. "But I wannna." Remus laughed and went back to scratching Sirius's head. "Remus, can we stay like this?" The werewolf's hand paused, and he looked down at the animagus.  
"Stay like what, Sirius?" The black-haired boy sat up on his knees and grasped Remus's shirt with both hands.  
"Us—together. I…can we make this last forever?" Remus blushed. "Please Rem, I…I'm not sure I even know how to act without you." The werewolf let go of his quill and laced both of his hands in Sirius's silky hair.  
"Sirius, you know this sounds like a proposal, right?" Blood invaded the pureblood's cheeks. He didn't exactly intend that.  
"Well if you say yes, then it can be." Sirius was smirking, but Remus could see the uncertainty behind it.  
"Let's leave it at a 'we'll see', yeah?" The animagus was disappointed until he realized while it wasn't a yes, it also wasn't a no. Remus brought their lips together quickly and then returned to his essay. While he didn't exactly get what he wanted, Sirius still grinned madly—he was a step closer. "You know you should be working on this too. OWLs are coming up; you'll need the practice." Sirius scoffed.  
"OWLs are still months away. You worry too much, Moony." Remus laughed and shook his head. "And besides, I'm a genius. It'll be no problem for me."  
"If you say so, Pads." The large, black dog returned. Remus sighed a bit inwardly—did this boy take nothing seriously?—and returned to scratching its head.

* * *

James sat sprawled underneath the Marauder's favourite tree. Peter copied his work furiously as the hazel-eyed boy watched the Black Lake. The giant squid was basking on the water's surface, but James didn't take his usual joy from the site. For pretty much the first time in his life, the boy was deep in thought. OWLs were steadily approaching, which meant it was almost time to grow up. James—the prank king, the jokester, the still-has-barely-hit-puberty—wasn't ready for that. He didn't think he'd be able to cope out there; he didn't think he could stand being all alone. "We'll all be friends after Hogwarts, right Peter?" The round boy looked up in surprise.  
"Course James. It'll take a lot more than graduation to break up the Maruaders." James smiled wearily—he still wasn't fully consoled. He'd feel much better once these exams were done with. And, well, he'd also feel much better if his other best friends were here.  
At first James cherished their cute little puppy-couple. But now it was starting to make him uneasy (he had never told that to Peter, who already harbored insecurities about the couple). It used to be James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter; but now it was Sirius and Remus all day, every day. At first James toyed at the idea of being jealous, but this wasn't jealousy—this was fear. If they already found everything they needed in each other why would they need James and Peter? What if they realized two was a better number than four? James shook the thought from his head. They were still were a happy family. Nothing—OWLs, relationships, animagi—would change that.  
"James, are you sure you got this part right? I don't think Grindylow's fear Lily Evans." James laughed a little and went to fix his mistake.  
"Thanks Peter. Sometimes I just can't seem to shake her from my thoughts." Peter smiled—a bit forcedly. He, like James, feared relationships. But unlike James, Remus, and Sirius, he wasn't already fixated on someone. Peter was the only one that would end up truly alone.  
"Don't we all know it, mate." Peter was the only one with everything to lose.


	26. Midnight Mischief

James, Peter, and Sirius did their best to hide underneath the invisibility cloak. The trio watched a weary-looking Remus press the knot on the Whomping Willow and disappear. They counted to ten before letting Peter transform and follow him. The little rat had no problem evading the branches. Once the pugnacious tree froze, the black-haired boys followed Peter. They ran towards the end of the tunnel—towards the shrieking shack. The first scream sounded; they only had seconds to stash the cloak and change. Sirius became Padfoot; James became Prongs; Peter was already Wormtail; and Remus would shortly be Moony. Padfoot was the first one to dare creep upstairs. The dog cautiously approached the wolf. Moony made no moves to attack, but looked at the slightly-familiar dog wearily.  
Prongs, who remained where he was because he had trouble with stairs, shook his antlers anxiously. Even though this wasn't the first time the Marauders romped in their 'animals forms', he was still a bit nervous. Sure he'd trust Remus with his life, but this wasn't exactly the Remus he knew—this was pure wolf.  
Speaking of the wolf, he cautiously approached Padfoot. The dog wagged his tail and did his best to appear non-threatening. Moony, on deciding that Padfoot wasn't competition, nuzzled the smaller canine's side. Padfoot barked happily and licked Moony's snout. The dogs stumbled down the stairs and joined the other half of their motley crew. Wormtail was nestled in-between Prong's antlers, and the stag was pawing the ground impatiently. With Prongs leading the way, the animals shuffled back out of the tunnel. The rat pressed the knot again, and they embraced the night. Padfoot began to bark happily and ran around, but then Moony growled. The wolf was the alpha here—he didn't want the others to forget it. Padfoot whined and tucked his tail between his legs. Moony snarled and circled the dog—Prongs tossed his antlers in anticipation. The wolf must have once again decided that Padfoot was harmless because Moony nuzzled their noses together. If Prongs was still in his own form he would've rolled his eyes.  
The Marauders, with the full moon on their backs, raced through the Forbidden Forest. They explored the castle grounds. They even went as far as teasing the edges of Hogsmeade. But even as animals, they grew tired. As the night ebbed away the four returned to the desolate shack. Prongs and Wormtail curled up on the first-floor, preferring not to climb the stairs. Padfoot was fully intent on joining them, but Moony was not. He nudged the other dog up the stairs and curled around him when they were settled. A successful night, Padfoot thought as he drifted off.

* * *

Remus's back felt stiff—as it always did when he woke up on the shack's floor. But he also felt incredibly warm. Opening his eyes, he was met with endless fur. The amber boy remembered bits of last night and smiled. He curled his fingers in Padfoot's fur and went back to sleep. He had no pressing need to visit Madame Pomfrey today.  
James also awoke—in his very lovely human form, mind you. Going to mess with his hair, he found little Wormtail nestled in his locks. He smiled a bit before prying the rat from his head. This sudden movement caused the rat to open his beady eyes as well. James smiled at Wormtail and pressed a finger to his lips. The boy wandered up the stairs and sneaked a look at the puppies. He smiled when he saw the massive dog curled around Remus. James crept up to the pair and gently nudged Padfoot. The dog, after been rudely awaken, growled at James. He quickly transformed and glared at the bespectacled boy. "What do you think you're doing here?" Sirius's voice was a low hiss. "Moony's _naked_." James, who didn't notice that at first, turned scarlet and covered his eyes.  
"I didn't know! Don't kill me please!" Sirius chuckled darkly. "I just came to tell you it's time to go." The silver-eyed boy pouted slightly and looked down at his sleeping mate.  
"Just give me a minute alright?" James nodded and tried his best to find the way out without uncovering his eyes. Sirius gingerly shook Remus's shoulder. "Remmmmusss." The werewolf groaned and unwillingly opened his eyes.  
"S'matter?" Sirius smiled and crashed their lips together.  
"Sorry Rem, but Prongsy said it's time to go." Remus groaned again and clutched Sirius's wrist.  
"Met you in the hospital wing in five?" Sirius grinned and nodded. The animagus joined James and Peter; the trio slid under the invisibility cloak and snuck back up to the castle. They missed the suspicious eyes that were watching the unusually-calm Whomping Willow.

True to his promise, Sirius ran to the hospital wing after changing his clothes. Upon his arrival he found a very giddy Madame Pomfrey. "I have to say this is the best you've ever looked after a full moon, Remus." The werewolf grinned. "Hopefully this continues." The nurse caught Sirius in the corner of her eyes—her grin grew. "And it looks like you have a visitor." Sirius slipped his hand into the werewolf's. "You guys can leave once that potion sets in." The pair pretended to listen to her; but once the matron had her back turned, they were gone.  
"So Padfoot, what do you have in mind?" The pureblood smirked.  
"I thought maybe we'd head to the library and _study_." Knowing Sirius's distaste for studying, Remus felt like the animagus had other plans.  
The 'other plans' became highly apparent once they entered the library. Sirius dragged the amber boy down an empty aisle and pushed him up against the books. "Would you like to visit the _restricted section_, Moony?" Catching on, Remus grinned.  
"Oh Padfoot, I'd like nothing better."


	27. Of OWLs and Falling Apart

Severus Snape knew Potter was up to something—he was absolutely sure this time. But the only person he thought would believe him didn't. "It's probably nothing, Sev." He frowned; Lily looked irritated.  
"But haven't you seen them sneaking around every full moon? What in the hell could they be doing?" The redhead didn't seem to care. "Aren't you suspicious?" She glared at him.  
"No. I honestly don't give a damn about anything Potter does. And I don't understand why you do." Severus began to get into a sulk. "Really Severus, I feel like you spend more time following them then with me. And if it's not Potter, then it's those creeps." The boy grasped at her hand; she shook it off. "I like you, Sev. You're still my best friend. But I can't do this anymore." Lily turned to leave, but Severus grabbed her wrist.  
"Lily I—" His 'I love you' died on his lips. "I'm sorry. I know it's a bit late, But I am." She smiled slightly. "Any chance I could steal a goodbye kiss?" Lily nodded and brought their lips together for the last time.  
"It's not goodbye, not really. We're still gonna be friends forever, right Sev?" He smiled.  
"Of course."

It didn't take long for the news of Lily's break-up to reach James's ears. Even with the impending terror of the OWLs, the boy couldn't stop grinning. Lily Evans was free of that slimeball; he couldn't be happier.

* * *

Finally face-to-face with the exams, Sirius whished has heeded Remus's warnings. Luckily his natural Black genius would make up for what his studying-habits lacked. So, he plowed through.  
Sirius's concentration lasted only until he reached question number ten though. _Give the five signs that identify the werewolf._ He smiled and searched the hall for his own werewolf. Sirius found Remus scribbling furiously a few rows away. He smiled again before returning his eyes to his test. Sign one: he has captivating eyes. Sign two: a gorgeous body. Sign three: his name's Remus Lupin.  
The werewolf himself had also laughed a little at the question. The amber boy's heart twinged a bit as well though, remembering the scene from the summer. With slightly shaking hands, he returned to the exam.  
When it all was finally over and done with, the four Gryffindors were relieved. "Did you like question ten Moony?"

* * *

Severus hadn't meant to say it. He had never said the word until now; he had never wanted to say it. (Mudblood, mudblood, mudblood.) It just fell from his lips somehow. He was still just a bit upset. That was all; even then, he never wanted to hurt Lily. (Mudblood, mudblood, mudblood.) He would go apologize. That would fix everything, right?  
It most decidedly did not. She wouldn't even talk to him at first. "Lily, please. I didn't mean it; I don't even know why I said it." Those green eyes glared at him.  
"So it just _slipped out_?"  
"Yes!" Her eyes narrowed. "I don't expect you to forgive me." Surprise shone on her face. "I just wish you would." Severus squeezed her hand quickly and then left. All he could feel was an agonizing ache.

* * *

Something was bothering Remus, Sirius just knew it. The werewolf was distancing himself, and the nightmares had started again. He tried to hide it, but it's kinda hard when you share a bed with someone. Remus began to whimper, and Sirius was afraid. "Rem…" He shook the sleeping boy gently; Remus tried to curl up. "Wake up, love." The werewolf began to claw at the sheets. Sirius clutched his mate and ran his fingers through that amber hair. "Please wake up, Remus."  
"Do-don't tou-touch me." Even though he knew Remus was still dreaming, Sirius was still hurt. "Pl-please st-stop." The pureblood shook Remus again.  
"Remus, wake up." He whimpered again, but his eyes were opening. "It's alright, Rem. I'm here." Remus tried to push Sirius away.  
"I'm f-fine." The pureblood clutched tighter. "Really Si-Sirius." The black-haired boy had started to cry.  
"Why didn't tell you tell me?" Remus tried his best to wipe away those tears. "Did you really think I wouldn't notice?" A faint blush spread across his cheeks.  
"I didn't w-want to worr-worry you." Sirius chuckled and gripped Remus's shoulder tightly.  
"Who would've thought that Remus the prefect could be such an idiot?" With his free hand, Sirius grabbed Remus's chin forcibly. "Not telling me has made me worry so much more." The werewolf's blush intensified. "Would you at least tell me what you're dreaming about?"  
"Only if y-you st-stop hold-holding me like this. It re-reminds me of hi-him." Sirius's eyes widened slightly; he dropped his hands. "Inc-incidentally, he was in my nig-nigh-nightmare." The pureblood returned one of his hands to those amber locks. "I'm just so afr-afraid of everything. He coul-could be here at anytime, and I wouldn't kno-know."  
"I promised I would keep him away, didn't I?" Remus nodded. "And I intend to keep that promise." Sirius returned his hand to Remus's chin, but he held it much gentler this time. "I love you, Remus. And I hate seeing you like this." The werewolf choked out a sob and launched himself on Sirius.  
"I'm so-sorry. I'm so sorry." Remus buried himself in Sirius chest and began to cry as well. "I'll tell y -you next time. I promise." The pair remained in silence. At least before Remus began to laugh heartily. Sirius looked at him in confusion. "We're going to do drea-dreadfully on tomorrow's OWLs." Sirius began to laugh too.


	28. Greyback's Return

Sirius refused to leave the train compartment. He also refused to let Remus go. Everything had just started to return to normal between the pair—meaning the nightmares and secrets had stopped again—and time ran out before the animagus was satisfied. "Sirius, the platform's almost empty." He mumbled inaudibly. "And the train's probably going to leave soon." Sirius groaned.  
"I don't care." He held Remus tighter. "Just five more minutes. Please?" The werewolf sighed and nodded his head. "I can't do it anymore, Rem. I _really_ can't go home this time." Remus rubbed comforting circles on the pureblood's back. "We're all gonna kill each other."  
"Shh, I won't let that happen Padfoot. I'd miss you too much." Sirius laughed. "Now come on, your five minutes are up." He groaned again, but got up. The werewolf curled his fingers in Sirius's elbow-length hair and brought their lips together.  
"Merlin, I love you." The pair intertwined their fingers and left the train. Mostly everyone else had already left; Kreacher, Regulus, and the Lupins glared (only a bit in the Lupins' case) at the boys.  
"Remus, is everything alright? You took an awfully long time coming off the train." Sirius started to growl.  
"I'm fine, mum. I was just saying goodbye." He gave Sirius a small smile, squeezed his hand, and left.

* * *

Walburga didn't notice the boys' late arrival; she was far too busy fawning over her guest. "Oh we're _so_ happy you've decided to stop in. If there's _any_thing you need, don't hesitate to ask." Kreacher let out a wheeze; Walburga turned her attention to the trio. "I'm so glad that you're home. Fenir, you must meet my children." She moved so she was behind Sirius and Remus, and placed a hand on each of their shoulders. "This is Sirius, and this is Regulus." The man turned his attention to the boys; Sirius's heart stopped. "This is Mr. Greyback." Greyback, the werewolf; Greyback, Remus's sire; Greyback, Remus's nightmare.  
"It's a pleasure to meet such fine-looking boys." Sirius clenched his fists and glared. Greyback raised a hand and lightly grazed Sirius's head. "I was wondering if you could join me for a second, _Sirius_?" The boy was quite ready to say 'no'. But Walburga pushed him towards the werewolf. "Excellent." Greyback led Sirius to one of the empty living rooms. As soon as the door shut, Sirius slammed Greyback into a wall and pressed his wand to the man's neck.  
"What the hell do you think you're doing here?" The werewolf just laughed.  
"So you think you can kill me?" He batted Sirius away without any effort. "You can't even use that thing outside of that school of your's." Greyback curled filthy fingers in some of Sirius's hair. "Now boy, I only want to say this once." He yanked on those black locks. "Stay away from _my things_." Greyback bared his fang-like teeth. "I understand his allure, but that's what eyes are for." The dog inside of Sirius begged to be let out; instead the boy growled.  
"He is _not_ your's." Greyback yanked at Sirius's hair again. "He's not anybody's." The werewolf chuckled.  
"You don't seem to understand kid. I _created_ him. The Remus you love so much wouldn't be here if it wasn't for me." Sirius growled again and tried to pull away; Greyback just pulled him even closer. "Do you realize how _different_ he would be if I never bit him?" He was right, and Sirius knew it. "Mmm, you smell _delicious_. Maybe a bite will get my point across." Greyback pulled him closer still and moved his mouth to Sirius's neck. The pureblood took this movement to finally get the upper hand. He brought a knee up to Greyback's crotch and elbowed the side of his head. The werewolf yelped. "You're gonna regret that." Sirius grabbed at the door handle and just about made it out before he was pulled to the ground. Claws cut up his arms as Greyback pulled himself on top of the boy. "Playing hard to get, eh? I like that." He took a deep breath. "But now it's time to sit still little Sirius." Sirius clenched his eyes shut as he felt something graze his throat.  
"What the hell?" Sirius had never been happier to hear Regulus. "I didn't think you'd do this to your half-blood boyfriend." So maybe Regulus had missed the point.  
"I'm not doing anything!" Greyback began to chuckle. "Just help me out here, please?" Regulus huffed, but offered Sirius a hand. The werewolf didn't stop him; he'd have other chances.  
"Just remember what we talked about, _Sirius_." The boy shuddered.

* * *

Remus sighed and watched the window. Summer was practically over, and he didn't receive a single letter from Sirius—he didn't even get any replies to the few letters he sent. Seeing as Sirius usually couldn't go five minutes without some form of contact, Remus was worried. He was a bit upset as well; maybe Sirius didn't write him because he didn't want to. The werewolf sighed again and brought his legs to his chest. Everything would be okay, right?  
Sirius thought the same thing as he sullenly peered out from his bedroom door. Greyback had remained a 'guest' in his home for most of the summer. During that time, Sirius hadn't found an opportunity to communicate with anyone. He was a helpless prisoner. Greyback, sensing Sirius's gaze, turned around and smirked. The animagus snarled before pulling his door closed. Just another week and he'll be free. He closed his eyes and envisioned an amber pair. Just another week and he'll be with _his_ Remus. Sirius couldn't wait.

* * *

To Sirius's dismay, Greyback had offered to see the boys off on the platform. His mother, who grew to utterly adore Greyback during the summer, was delighted. "Oh how kind of you, Fenir. I bet the boys will be ecstatic." They were far from it; Regulus was indifferent while Sirius was murderous. He couldn't even kill him like he promised. Greyback noticed the boy's clenched fists, he smirked.  
"Is everything alright, _Sirius_?" Greyback's voice was right in Sirius's ear. The boy shuddered. "Do you think I have time for one last bite?" Sirius paled and shifted away.  
"Why won't you leave?"  
"Oh I will momentarily. I just wanted to say goodbye first." Greyback spotted something amber out of the corner of his eye. "And hello to someone else." The werewolf threaded his filthy fingers through Sirius's hair one last time before moving off in Remus's direction. Good riddance, thought Sirius who hadn't spotted Remus.  
"Bye mum. Bye dad." The Lupins' goodbye wasn't as stiff as last years, but the small family was still at odds. Remus gave his parents a short hug before he moved towards the train. He stopped when he felt an uncomfortable grip on his shoulder.  
"So good to see you again, _Remus_." The boy's blood froze. "I missed you." A heavy hand came to rest on the boy's waist. "Guess who I stayed with over the summer." Remus shuddered; Greyback laughed. "Your pretty, little boyfriend. His mother welcomed me with open arms." The amber boy's Gryffindor bravery seemed to return to him as he turned around.  
"Leave him alone!" Unfortunately Greyback wasn't intimidated.  
"Funny. That's what I said to him." The grizzled man brought a hand to Remus's cheek. "I hate having other people touch my things." Remus batted the hand away and growled.  
"_I said leave him alone_." Greyback smirked.  
"Only if he does as I say." And then the older werewolf was gone. Remus's bravery seemed to deflate without his presence; the boy began to tremble. Looking around, he spotted a familiar head of black hair and his heart soared. The amber boy flew to Sirius and wrapped his arms around him. Sirius's initial shock instantly faded away as he returned the hug.  
"Hey Remus."  
"Hello Sirius."


	29. Bliss

Sirius subconsciously shuddered as Remus brushed against the scar on his neck. Remus, who had suspected just as much, sighed. "He bit you." The pureblood's eyes widened in surprise. He wasn't planning on telling Remus anything about Greyback; he wasn't planning on letting Remus know he failed.  
"What are you talking about?" Remus pushed Sirius's hair away from his neck.  
"I know Greyback when I see it. I have to look at my own neck every day." Sirius clenched his fists and lowered his eyes. "He told me that he was with you." He snapped his head back up.  
"What? But he wasn't out of my sight for a second!" Sirius began to panic. "I couldn't kill him, and I couldn't even keep him from you." Remus brought a hand to Sirius's neck, covering that mark, and brought their foreheads together.  
"I saw him on the platform." Sirius brought his hand to Remus's identical scar. "But the one you should be worried for is yourself." Remembering Greyback's words, Sirius growled.  
"You don't belong to him." The pureblood pressed his lips to Remus's. "I love you, and nothing he says can keep me from you." Remus smiled and curled himself around Sirius.  
"Sirius,—" The werewolf had wanted to ask if Sirius's 'proposal' still stood. But the timid boy couldn't get the words out. "— I love you too." The pair were reunited, and Greyback was far away; they were happy.

* * *

Peter was finally realizing how important OWLs really were. Last year they were a major stress point for him, but he thought he could just scrape a barely-passing and move on. Turns out he was wrong. Apparently barely receiving Acceptables meant you couldn't have classes with your genius friends. Peter sulked as James, Remus, and Sirius all headed to Potions. He was just as great as them—he was really. He'd show them all someday. Peter Pettigrew wasn't someone to just push aside.  
James watched Lily Evans out of the corner of his eye (like he normally did); today he couldn't help but notice differences in the redhead. For one her fiery temper seemed to cool down—she didn't even snap at him when he said 'Good morning, Evans'. There was something else, and James didn't like it—but don't get him wrong, he was still head-over-heels for the girl. Could it be that she looked sad? Could it be she was still upset over Snivellus? James shook the thought from his head. If she really was upset, and over something as stupid as that loser, James would just have to do his best to cheer her up. Yeah, he thought as he grinned to himself, he'd just have to make her smile.

* * *

McGonagall smiled her little half-smile at her NEWT-level class. "I assume you all know how seriously you should be taking this class, considering the hard work it took to get in." Peter grimaced a bit in the back row; the only reason he made it in was all the animagus training. "I also expect you to act more maturely, seeing as you're all almost of age." James and Sirius grinned wickedly. "I'm talking to you: Black! Potter!" James dropped the wind-up prank he had hidden under the desk. "Good. Now get out some parchment and a quill." The class groaned collectively.  
"This class should be a breeze. Right Prongs?" The bespectacled boy grinned and nodded.  
"It should be a lot of _fun_. Eh Padfoot?" Sirius mimicked James's actions.  
"What do you say, Moony?" Remus groaned and returned his attention to his notes—at least one of them had to be a good student. The werewolf groaned again when Sirius's breath tickled his ear. "Can we at least have a bit of _fun_ later?" Sirius's hand moved, and Remus groaned for an entirely different reason. "I take that's a yes?" Remus nodded dumbly. The pureblood removed his hand, and Remus looked rather disappointed. Thank Merlin for free periods he thought.  
As soon as McGonagall dismissed them for lunch, Remus clutched onto Sirius's hand. He dragged the pureblood towards the dormitory and away from the rest of the school. "Moony, what about lunch?" Remus growled—the full moon was only days away.  
"I'm not hungry." Sirius laughed a little and allowed himself to be pulled up the stairs. The werewolf didn't even wait until they were in the dormitory—as soon as the portrait hole swung shut, he crashed their lips together. Remus had also tried to peel off Sirius's robes, but the pureblood stopped him.  
"Maybe we should go to the dormitories, eh?" Sirius gathered the amber boy in his arms and carried him up the stairs. He practically threw the smaller boy on the bed; the wolf inside of Remus grinned. Still standing, Sirius smirked and pulled his robes over his head. His shirt soon followed as well as his trousers. Remus grinned wickedly at the pureblood who was standing only in boxers. "Now, what were we up to again?" The werewolf flung off his own robes. "Oh, that's right." Sirius climbed on top of the amber boy and laced their fingers together. "I was about to ravish you mercilessly."  
"Could you hurry up and start perchance?" The animagus grinned and quickly removed Remus's trousers and shirt. He intertwined their fingers again and grinded their hips together.  
"So what would you like Moony? What do you want me to _do_?" Remus bit his lower lip and squirmed.  
"Inside." Sirius reddened in surprise. "I want you inside." Now the pair had most certainly fooled around plenty of times before. But they had never exactly been able to muster the courage to go all the way.  
"Are you sure?" Remus nodded. Sirius, with a slightly shaking hand, pulled off their boxers. "I'm sorry if this hurts." The werewolf just nodded again.  
"It's fine if it's Sirius." The pureblood smiled. He slid in gently and waited for any sign of pain. Instead Remus moaned softly; Sirius continued. The pair moved together in harmony—it was bliss. They were perfectly in tune to each other's needs; they were perfectly in time. Remus rocked his hips as Sirius moved his hand—it was even better than bliss. "Sirius…." The animagus groaned and gave one last thrust.  
"Oh Remus." The pair shuddered simultaneously as Sirius pulled out. He rolled off the werewolf and sighed blissfully. "I feel….that was….Merlin, I love you Remus." The amber boy smiled and slipped his hand into Sirius's bigger one.  
"And I love you, Sirius." The lovers were quite content with just staying there. But then the door to the dormitory opened.  
"Moony? Padfoot?" With a lazy flick of his wand, Sirius slammed the door shut. He gave his boyfriend a kiss and grinned like a maniac again. This was bliss.


	30. I solemnly swear I am up to no good

James ruffled his hair in frustration. He just couldn't seem to get these spells right. The bespectacled boy groaned and threw the blank piece of parchment onto the table. He'd just have to wait for Remus and Sirius to get back (Peter wasn't really of any help). The werewolf had warned the animagi that this map would be a lot of work, but James didn't take his warnings seriously until now. All the young prankster wanted was an aid to his mischief. And James seriously needed a lookout that didn't tend to fall asleep on the job (Peter). His hazel eyes shone in hope as the portrait hole swung open. But, instead of a pair of dogs, James was met with a vixen. "Hello Evans!" The pureblood received a pleasant surprise.  
"Evening, Potter." He beamed up at her. "You haven't seen Remus around, have you? I have an Arithmancy question."  
"Ah, no. He ran away somewhere with Sirius. I've been waiting for that brain of his to return too." Lily muttered an 'oh' and made to leave. "Why don't we wait for Remus together?" James was pleasantly surprised again; Lily pulled out a chair and sat down.  
"Alright, Potter." The pair made light conversation as they waited for the werewolf's return. When said boy entered the common room he was sure something was amiss.  
"Pads, I think we may have stumbled through the wrong portrait." The pureblood's silver eyes widened in surprise.  
"Well that sure _looks_ like Prongs and Evans." The couple edged closer to the table. "And it _sounds_ like Prongs and Evans."  
"So it must be Prongs and Evans." Upon hearing the voice they were waiting for, Lily and James looked up in surprise.  
"Moony!"  
"Remus!" "We've been waiting for you," the pair said together. Sirius, whom nobody was apparently waiting for, pouted.  
"Nobody's excited to see me, then?"  
"Actually Pads, I need some help…" Sirius turned his head upon hearing the whiny voice.  
"Ah, Wormy. Lemme guess, transfiguration?" Peter nodded. The two marauders slid off towards another table as Remus joined Lily and James.  
"Arithmancy." "The map." They glared at each other; both thought their question deserved the first answer. "Potter." "Evans." Remus sighed and rubbed at his temples.  
"Prongs, let me help Lily first. Okay?" James huffed and crossed his arms, but he didn't raise any objections.  
"For this chart, would 667 fall under luck like number seven? Or would it fall under misfortunate for the multiple sixes?"  
"Luck. A seven trumps sixes." Remus smiled at her; Lily blushed a bit. Why in the world did the nice one have to be gay, she thought. Though Potter wasn't giving her any reason to complain at the moment, she also thought. Lily's blush darkened as she shook her head. She did _not_ just have a pleasant thought about James Potter.  
"Thanks Remus, I'll see you tomorrow!" The embarrassed girl grabbed her work and hurried away from the boys.  
"That was odd." James watched Lily as she fled up the stairs. "Anyway…Moony I need help with the map." The bespectacled boy held up the ratty, blank piece of parchment. Remus sighed.  
"What are you stuck on?" James shuffled sheepishly in his seat.  
"Everything." Remus took the paper from James and guided his wand over it. A faint outline of the dungeons faded onto the paper.  
"There's a starting point." He gave the paper back to the animagus. "Now I'm afraid that I'm just simply too busy to help anymore today." The werewolf slithered over towards Sirius and Peter. He slipped his hands over the black-haired boy's shoulders and rested them on his chest. "_Sirius_." Remus purred into the punk's ear. A smirk slid onto Sirius's face.  
"Uh, I'm afraid I have a more pressing engagement Wormy." Peter, who knew exactly what that meant, wrinkled his nose. "James will be glad to help though." The pureblood got up from his chair and wrapped his arms around Remus's waist. "So what are you thinking, Moony?"  
"Well I found this hidden little room where your moans would come off as a stereotypical ghost." Sirius smiled and nibbled on Remus's ear ever so lightly. "And _of course_ we need to explore it for the map." The pureblood released the werewolf.  
"Of course. Why don't you lead the way?" The pair snuck back out of the portrait hole—both forgetting James's invisibility cloak, which was what they came back for. They crept towards the Charms Corridor hand-in-hand. Remus trailed his fingers along an elaborate tapestry that depicted a scene from a goblin war. His lips upturned when his hand got caught in a hole. The werewolf lifted the bottom of the tapestry and dragged Sirius behind it. The pair tumbled into a broom-closet-sized room. "A little roomy, Moony." The werewolf laughed.  
"Sorry, but we've already been everywhere smaller." The animagus smiled at the memories and pressed Remus to the wall.  
"We'll just have to make do, I suppose." Sirius crashed their lips together. Remus moaned in the back of his throat and tugged at Sirius's elbow-length hair. The animagus slid his hands underneath Remus and lifted him. The werewolf's legs hooked themselves behind Sirius's back. Remus bucked his hips, and Sirius's knees buckled. "_Merlin_." The animagus left out a growl and brought one of his hands to Remus's trousers. Sirius got them off and kept Remus just where he was with a bit of skill (and time). He let his own trousers fall to the floor as the werewolf squirmed in his arms.  
"_Sirius_." The pureblood responded to Remus's unspoken request; he slid in. The small room began to become quite warm as the couple moved together. It was safe to say they _explored_ it.

* * *

Sirius pouted as he cleaned yet another trophy. Apparently forgetting the cloak the other day wasn't a good idea. Remus and Sirius weren't so lucky on the way back to Gryffindor Tower—they ran into Filch. Now they were serving separate detentions, and Sirius _hated_ cleaning the muggle way. When he finally reached the last plague, he sighed in relief. Filch gave him the all clear; he headed to the tower.  
"What are you doing wandering the halls, Black?" Sirius wrinkled his nose in disgust.  
"Leaving detention, _Snivellus_." The Slytherin glared.  
"Yeah right. You're up to something, I just know it. You idiots are always up to something."  
"Really? How would you know that, Sniv? Unless of course this ickle little snake follows us?" Sirius snarled. Red blotches appeared on Severus face; he was caught off guard. And Sirius knew it. The pureblood smirked and stalked towards the Slytherin. Severus, who wasn't thinking very clearly, got pushed into a corner. Sirius—who was a good deal taller—leaned over Severus and leered down at him. "What exactly do you catch us doing, _Snivellus_?" Severus glared at the Gryffindor.  
"I suggest you move, Black. I don't enjoy this position as much as your _disgusting boyfriend_ does." That was the last straw for Sirius. The silver-eyed boy's leer turned into a murderous smirk as he backed away from the Slytherin.  
"All right. Does this ickle snake really want to know what we're up to so much?" Something terrible gleamed in those silver eyes. But Severus's curiosity didn't let him see that. "All you have to do is press a knot at the base of the Whomping Willow and follow the tunnel it covers. But, and this is crucial, don't do it until Saturday night." Sirius laughed a little darkly and left the Slytherin. Severus was asking for it, Sirius told himself. He was asking to meet the wolf. The black-haired boy tried to ignore the nagging feeling he had as he climbed staircase after staircase. Nothing too bad would happen, right? He shook the insecurities out of his head and climbed into the common room.  
"Hey Padfoot, come check this out!" Peter, James, and Remus (whose detention finished long before Sirius's) were all gathered around a blank piece of parchment. "We just put on the finishing touches." James tapped the paper with his wand. "I solemnly swear I am up to no good."


	31. Quarrelsome

Severus could hear his heartbeat as he ran out of the castle. He saw the Whomping Willow freeze and knew Potter was on the move. The Slytherin did exactly what Sirius told him and found a stick long enough to hit the knot. The tree froze once again, and Severus ran to the trunk. His eyes found the opening Black talked about; the Slytherin dove into it. The hair on the back of his neck stood up, but Severus didn't understand why. His foot got caught, and the boy was about to tumble to the ground. But fingers wrapped themselves around his wrist and held him up. "What are you doing here?" Severus tore himself from the grip.  
"I'm finding out what you're always up to, Potter." Severus snarled at the Gryffindor. James, instead of looking annoyed like Severus thought he would, looked frightened.  
"For once I'm not up to anything. So please just come back to the castle with me." The Slytherin glared.  
"Not until I see the end of this tunnel myself." He continued moving forward. James followed; he tugged on Severus's arm periodically, but the pasty boy just shook him off.  
"Please Severus, just forget about this." The Slytherin was about to retort when someone screamed. Goosebumps formed on Severus's arm. The scream sounded again, but this time it sounded inhuman. Severus began to run towards that sound; James was having a hard time keeping up. This time a howl hit the boys' ears. Severus finally reached the end of the tunnel—he stopped dead. Remus was standing in the middle of the room, clearly in pain. His skin was rippling, and his teeth were much longer than normal.  
Severus Snape—with his top mark in Defense Against the Dark Arts—could most definitely recognize a werewolf transformation when he saw one. James was finally able to pull the Slytherin through the tunnel—Severus had gone limp from shock. Howls sounded behind the boys; they were frantic. Severus didn't regain any of his senses until they were well away from the willow. He shook off James and trembled. "That was Lupin?" James nodded gravely. "You guys have been hiding a monster!" James grabbed Severus's wrist again.  
"He's not a monster. He didn't ask for any of this." The Slytherin growled and whipped out his wand.  
"So I'm just supposed to believe that the _half-breed_ didn't tell Black to lure me here?" James released his grip. His hazel eyes widened in shock.  
"What? Sirius told you to come here?" Severus began to feel suspicious—he was sure all the idiots were in on this 'joke'.  
"Of course he did. How the hell else would I know about the knot?" James bit his lip; Severus's fear returned to him. "Are you saying this was all Black's idea?" Are you saying Black wanted me dead, Severus thought.  
"Unfortunately, yes." A shriek cut through the night.  
"Ah, poor Remus." The boys jumped in surprise. Professor Dumbledore had somehow snuck up on them. "It's too much for a young boy, don't you think?"  
"Professsor!," the boys said in union. Dumbledore smiled down at the boys and placed a hand on each of their shoulders.  
"It's okay. Mr. Potter, can I trust that you can find your own way back to Gryffindor Tower?" James nodded. "And, if you wouldn't mind, could you accompany me to my office Mr. Snape?" Severus also nodded. "Excellent." The Slytherin silently followed his headmaster through the castle. They didn't stop until they reached a griffin statue. "Blood Pops."

* * *

Remus's head felt like it was about to explode; his ribs felt crushed; and, for some reason, his heart ached. The boy gradually opened his eyes. He was surprised to find Professor Dumbledore and Severus Snape at his bedside at first. But then it hit him. Snape _knew_. Remus brought his legs to his chest and covered his face with his hands. He was a monster, and now Snape knew. "Is everything alright, Mr. Lupin?" Remus couldn't even look at them.  
"I'm a mo-monster. I do-don't des-deserve to be here." The amber boy was trembling ever so slightly. Severus was shocked; he had never seen Remus like this, never heard him stutter before. "I'm so-sorry Sev-Severus."  
"I'm not going to tell anyone, Lupin." Dumbledore smiled—it looked like he didn't need to mediate. "Just…please tell me you weren't in on it." Remus lowered his hands; he was curious.  
"In on it?" Severus gave a sigh of relief. He didn't want theone with the real power holding a grudge. "Wh-what are you talking about?"  
"Uh, I'm afraid that last night was no accident. It appears that Mr. Black told Severus about the tunnel." Remus's heart stopped. They couldn't mean Sirius—he wouldn't do anything like that, right? "I'm sorry I had to tell you, Remus." Dumbledore sighed. The old wizard gestured to Severus, and the two men left. Madame Pomfrey hurried over to her patient.  
"Finally, I can look after my student." The nurse was surprised to find Remus crying.  
"Ma-Madame Pomfrey, I don't thi-think I'm up for visits today." She nodded and quickly busied herself with healing potions. Remus tried to stop crying while she was turned away, but the tears wouldn't stop. _Why Sirius?_

Scratches and bites lined Sirius face, and he was quite sure a few of his ribs were bruised too. But that didn't bother the pureblood—he could hardly feel any of it. Instead, his heart ached; everyone was avoiding him. Sirius woke up to find that his best friend wouldn't talk to him; his lover would not be taking any visitors, especially not one Sirius Orion Black; and, hell, even Peter wouldn't look at him. He was most decidedly in a sulk. All of this was Snape's fault. If Snape hadn't annoyed him so much; if Snape minded his own business; if Snape had never come then none of this would have happened. Sirius sighed and put his head in his hands. The animagus didn't know what to do.

* * *

The Hogwarts Express gleamed in the winter light. Sirius watched every student that climbed aboard. It had been five days since the incident, and Remus still refused to see Sirius. The animagus had returned to the Hospital Wing every day, but Madame Pomfrey always shooed him away. Sirius already knew he screwed up, so why wouldn't Remus hear his apology? His silver eyes caught the familiar amber-haired boy. Sirius rushed over to his boyfriend—or at least the boy he hoped was still his boyfriend. "Remus!" The werewolf ignored him; Sirius ran faster. "Please!" The pureblood caught up. "Remus, please just listen to me." He received a glare.  
"I'm sorry, but this is the prefect's compartment. And seeing as you're not a prefect, you need to leave." Remus slammed the sliding door in Sirius's face. Apparently he wasn't anything close to forgiven.  
"I'm not giving up on you, Remus." He clenched his fist. "I've been a right idiot." Sirius laughed a bit. "Actually, I've been worse than an idiot. But I still love you, Remus. So I'm not giving up." He waited to see if Remus would respond. But after it was quite clear he wasn't going to say anything, Sirius left. He would do whatever it took. Sirius _needed_ Remus.

The young heir, who was already having an awful day, was in low spirits as he entered the Most Noble and Ancient House of Black. It certainly didn't help matters having his horrible cousin Bellatrix over for a visit. "Well if it isn't ickle Sirius." She grinned. "It's _so nice_ seeing you." Sirius gritted his teeth and tried to push past her. "Not so fast." Bellatrix grasped his wrist. "I missed my little cousin terribly." She twisted his arm.  
"Get the hell off." She just grinned again.  
"Happy Christmas, Sirius." He pushed her off and ran. He ran back out the door; he ran in the street; he ran. Sirius couldn't go back into that house—he could never go back there. The pureblood ran until the streets became familiar again. He ran towards the Potter's house. His breathing was strained, and he was crying. Sirius pounded on the door.  
"Sirius, what the hell?" He fell to his knees.  
"I know everyone still hates me. And I know I've been a right arse. But I have nowhere else to go, and I can't stay there." James, who was still in fact mad at Sirius, softened his gaze.  
"You're right—you're an absolute arse. But you're still my best mate." The bespectacled boy tugged on Sirius's hand. "So get up and come inside." Sirius smiled up at James. The handsome heir of Black was now homeless and boyfriendless, but at least he wasn't friendless.


	32. Almost

The Potters were happy to have Sirius, and he was most certainly not a burden. Or so they told him. Sirius, after running away from home, was quite serious when he said he had nowhere else to go. In normal circumstances the boy would have tried for Remus's right away—even though he had never been to the werewolf's house before—but these weren't normal times. The werewolf was still ignoring him; Sirius had sent countless letters, but Remus never answered one. "It'll take more than a couple of letters, mate." James plopped down next to the silver-eyed boy. "I've never seen him this upset beforen."  
"Oh, so 'Remus isn't accepting any visitors' only applied to me then?" Sirius glared in jealousy.  
"Of course. You were the only one who did anything wrong." He sighed and hit his head on the table.  
"Meh. Get me a time turner, Prongs. I'm going to win him back if it's the last thing I do." James shook his head and put a hand on Sirius's shoulder. "I just _need_ to; I don't know how to live without him." His heart ached. "I love him more than anything."  
"I know Pads. But I really don't think the letters are helping." James tugged the half-finished letter out from under Sirius. "So stop it." Sirius groaned. "Don't worry, Padfoot. With my help, Remus can't help but forgive you." The animagi smiled.  
"Prongs, I am forever in your debt—seriously." James slipped a blank piece of parchment into Sirius's hand.  
"That reminds me; there's someone else in my debt you should write to."

* * *

_Dear Severus Snape,  
There are no real words to describe just how low of a person I am. Hell, I hardly  
deserve still being called a person. I know this won't change much, but I'm sorry. It was  
a dangerous and stupid thing I did. Unfortunately I can't change what happened, but  
please understand that I would if I could. Most of all, please please please understand  
that none of this was Remus's fault. He had nothing to do with it. Even if I can never  
live this down, please don't hate him. He's just an unlucky kid that didn't deserve this.  
Best of Wishes,  
Sirius Orion Black_

Severus grimaced down at the letter. Black was right—there was no way he was going to be forgiven. But it seemed like the pureblood hadn't spoken to his boyfriend; if he did he would have obviously known that Severus didn't hold Remus responsible at all. The Slytherin got an idea, a cruel one at that. He would sure be having fun once break was over.

Remus grimaced down at his pile of letters. They were all from a very persistent animagus, and they were all unopened. Secretly, Remus wanted to tear them all open and devour them with his eyes. But what Sirius did was unforgivable—he couldn't forget that. The werewolf sighed; he really didn't want to believe that Sirius did that. He wanted someone, anyone to tell him it was all a misunderstanding. Remus wanted to hear that Severus was wrong; Dumbledore was wrong; James was wrong. Remus wanted Sirius, but not the Sirius that would betray him like this. The werewolf glared at the letters. Why the hell was it so hard you hate you, Sirius Orion Black?

* * *

Sirius, after learning his lesson before, did not venture near the prefect's compartment. The punk decided he would try James's idea of easing up—he'd try to get Remus to come to him. Sirius groaned. This was much harder than he thought—he'd already been on the same train as Remus for _twenty minutes_. It was bloody torture.  
After making sure James was really napping, Sirius snuck out of their compartment. The boy crawled down to the prefect's compartment—he really didn't learn his lesson last time. Sirius, after pawing at the door ever-so-slightly, waited. He curled up and watched the window. Inside with the prefects, Lily smiled a bit—it was adorable, she thought. The redhead understood Remus and Sirius were in some kind of spat, but she didn't know why. Either way, she just fawned over Sirius's determination to win him back. It was much more than Severus did—Lily most definitely would have forgiven him (and maybe even taken him back) if he did something as cute as wait for her outside the train compartment. "It looks like you have a visitor, Remus." The amber boy frowned.  
"I don't want to see him." Lily huffed.  
"Knowing Black, he's probably done something absolutely moronic again. But you shouldn't beat yourself up over his mistakes." Remus looked at the closed compartment door. "You miss him—I can tell."  
"I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about." The green-eyed girl shook her head and slipped out of the compartment. Sirius looked up in hope.  
"Sorry Black, but it doesn't seem like he's coming out anytime soon." The pureblood's face fell. "Don't give up, though. He misses you, really—he just won't admit it."  
"Uh, thanks Evans. I don't intend on giving up ever." Sirius turned his attention back to the compartment door; Lily smiled slightly. They were cute, she thought. The female prefect started her duties. She looked through every compartment window—everything seemed to be in order. Lily paused for a bit outside of James's compartment. The young prankster was fast asleep. He looked kind of cute like that, she thought. He looked quiet and just a bit innocent. Lily shook her head and made a face; since when did she start considering the Marauders cute?

Remus had much trouble getting off the train. He originally intended to do it as quickly as possible, but Sirius was still draped into front of the compartment. The werewolf was trapped. "Come on, Rem. You have to come out sometime." He groaned.  
"Just go away." The animagus flung the door open.  
"Can you really not even walk past me?" He took a step towards Remus. The amber boy inverted his eyes. "You can't even look at me?"  
"Just go away, Sirius." Sirius wanted to take Remus in his arms. He wanted to shake him; he wanted to kiss him. The black-haired boy settled for crying.  
"Please just look at me, Remus. I know I'll regret saying this, but I don't even care if you talk to me anymore. Just please look up." The werewolf bit his lip; he raised his head very slowly.  
"Okay." Remus, now maintaining proper eye contact, was surprised to find Sirius crying. He reached up to brush the tears away, but stopped just before Sirius's face. The animagus laughed bitterly.  
"Don't worry yourself—I don't deserve it." He roughly brushed them away himself. "I guess I should go now, seeing as I got what I wanted." Remus continued to sink his teeth into his lip. The pureblood started to walk away. Something rose in Remus's chest—he reached out to grab Sirius, but fell short again.  
"Sirius!" He turned to find Remus with an outstretched arm, blood on his lips, and tears in his eye. "I…" Let him come to you James said; Sirius could do that. He could listen to his friend. "I…" Remus looked ready to fall apart. "I…." Sirius rushed over and gathered the werewolf up in his arms; he was never any good at listening.  
"Shh." Remus buried his face into Sirius's chest.  
"I'm still angry, you know." The werewolf's voice was muffled. "So you're not completely forgiven yet." Sirius breathed in his scent.  
"I was completely serious when I said I'll do whatever it takes to fix that." Remus laughed a little and tightened his grip.  
"Just friends. For now, we're just friends." Sirius's heart tightened, but it was okay. Friends was better than absolutely nothing, right?  
"Fine." He started to pull away from Remus. "Can this old dog get one last kiss?" Sirius didn't wait for an answer; he crashed their lips together.  
"Yes!" James and Lily smiled at the pair. Apparently it didn't take as long as it previously looked for reconciliation. Remus pulled away from Sirius and shook his head.  
"Break-up kiss." Sirius shook his head.  
"Just a break."  
"Break-up."  
"Break." Remus glared a bit half-heartedly.  
"We'll see." James and Lily turned to each other. The bespectacled boy winked; the redhead smiled. They would most certainly get the pair back together.


	33. Forgiven

Sirius growled as he watched Remus from behind a bookshelf. The werewolf was chatting up a seventh year Ravenclaw as if it was no big deal. It had been two months since their 'break-up', and Sirius wasn't getting any closer to a second chance. Instead it seemed that the whole school was taking advantage of the boys' single statuses. The pureblood had gotten no less than thirty-six proposals, and he turned each one down. But the werewolf had gotten nineteen (that Sirius knew of) and accepted eight of them. Sirius groaned as Remus laced fingers with the Ravenclaw—make that twenty and nine.  
Since that day on the train, Sirius went along with Remus's request and put himself in the friend zone. The animagus had thought that it would take about a week or maybe two to reclaim his post as Remus Lupin's boyfriend. Boy was he wrong. The werewolf would hardly let Sirius touch him, even though he let him all the time before they dated. Nor would Remus spend much time alone with Sirius. But everything was different at night. At night they were together.  
For three days the pair 'slept' separately in their respective beds. Personally, Sirius couldn't do it. On the fourth night the animagus heard whimpering, and he knew Remus couldn't sleep alone either. Sirius slid off his bed and slinked over to Remus's. He gently shook the whimpering boy awake. Remus, who had attempted to hide his reinstated nightmares from Sirius, flushed in embarrassment. "It's nothing." Sirius wasn't going to be brushed aside that easily.  
"I know you better than anyone. So don't give me that bullshit." Sirius wrapped his arms around Remus. "Truthfully, I can't sleep either. Spend the night with me." Remus was ready to say 'no'. "No strings attached. Just sleeping. Please." The werewolf nodded. Hope rose in Sirius's chest as he curled himself around Remus. Even though he was the one who said 'no strings attached', Sirius hoped this would lead to something. But, as the morning showed, it didn't—Sirius woke up alone in Remus's bed.  
So, the pureblood was most decidedly in a jam. Every night Remus was wrapped up in Sirius's arms, but right now he was smiling at some stupid Ravenclaw. He growled again. "Something wrong, Pads?" Sirius jumped a bit in surprise.  
"Of course not. Everything is absolutely perfect, Prongs." James sighed.  
"You gotta stop following him around like this." The bespectacled boy dragged Sirius to the library doors. "It's not winning you any points at all. And it's hurting you." Sirius groaned and tugged at his hair.  
"It wouldn't hurt so damn much if he'd just stop seeing other people!" A few second-years squeaked at Sirius's shout. "He doesn't need them; he's already got me!" Sparks fell out the end of Sirius's wand.  
"Mate, maybe you should calm down." Sirius tugged his hair again. "Come on, I have some firewhiskey up in the dorm." The silver-eyed boy brightened slightly.  
"Why didn't you say that first, Prongs? Let's go." The boys hurried past Filch (who swore they were up to something); hurried through a few ghosts; and hurried up the changing-staircases. They were completely out of breath when they reached the Fat Lady.  
"Don't tell me you two are up to something again?" They shook their heads. "Then give me the password."  
"Hippogriffs." She smiled and swung the portrait open. The pair fled to the sixth-years' boys' dormitory. James threw open the lid to his trunk and gingerly pulled out a bottle. "A bottle of Rosmerta's best." He took a swig and the handed the bottle to Sirius. He smiled and followed James's example. The pair continued to pass the bottle back and forth until all the firewhiskey disappeared.  
"You know," Sirius slurred, "dating's overrated." James, who still hadn't secured a date with Lily yet, grunted in approval. "What's the goddamn point?"  
"There isn't one." James shook his head sadly.  
"Exactly!" Sirius swung an arm around James's shoulders. "They lure you in with their pretty eyes, their cute little stammer, their absolutely perfect backside—" James covered Sirius's mouth with his hand.  
"Pads, if you mention Moony's bum one more time I'll hex you." Sirius laughed and leaned into James's side. "He'll come around; you just have to be patient." He laughed again and pushed the hand away.  
"I say I've been pretty patient already." Sirius sighed. "I'll give your way another week. Then, I'll win him back my way." James thought that was a bad idea and was planning on saying so. But all the bespectacled boy could get out was a yawn. "He'll be begging me to get back with him in no time." Sirius began to crawl to his bed. "Yeah. Everything will be back to normal soon." The pureblood was able to climb up onto his bed before he passed out.

It was rather late when Remus slithered into the dormitory. His amber eyes took in the empty bottle; James sleeping on the floor; and Sirius lying half-off his bed. The werewolf laughed a bit. He pushed the animagus back onto the bed and began to curl up beside him. Hands grabbed the werewolf before he got comfortable though. The slight movement had apparently woken Sirius up; the boy grabbed Remus as his eyes flew open. The pureblood grasped Remus's wrists and leaned over him. "Hey Mooooony." Remus was frozen in shock—as opposed to fear.  
"Sirius…." The animagus pouted.  
"I don't like the way you say Sirius. It sounds much too serious." He grinned and pressed his forehead to Remus's. "Anyway, I wannna talk seriously Moony." Sirius's elbow-length hair fell; it closed off Remus's sight of anything but Sirius's face. "I can't do it anymore." The animagus's lips moved closer to the werewolf's; Remus's breath caught in his throat. "Unless you're going to take me back, you gotta stop teasing me Remmmy." His lips ghosted over Remus's. "I can't stand having you sleep next to me and then going off to someone else in the morning." His hands gripped Remus's wrists tighter. "Unless you want more than sleeping, don't come." Remus frowned as Sirius pulled away and let go of his wrists. "So please leave."  
"Sirius, I…" 'Don't want to leave.' 'Want to come back.' 'Miss you.' Instead of saying any of this, Remus slid off the bed. He couldn't yet.

* * *

Severus Snape had most certainly been enjoying the past two months. Once classes resumed after break, he noticed a significant change within the opposing ranks. It appeared that Lupin had tossed Black aside. The Slytherin smirked. He had tons of things in mind to do to torture the couple, but this was much better. "Lupin! Come here for a moment. I need a dog's help." Severus laughed to himself as Remus flushed and Sirius stood up. He wished this could go on forever. But Lily had made a request from him. And, well, he still couldn't refuse those emerald orbs.  
"What the hell do you—"  
"Sirus, don't!" The pureblood glared at Severus, but didn't say anything else. Remus, much to Sirius's distain, walked over to the Slytherin. The rest of the class began to whisper at this odd behavior. A Marauder willing walking over to Snape? It was unheard of.  
"I didn't know Lupin was into guys like Snape." Someone laughed; Sirius clenched his fists.  
"Yes, Severus?" The pallid boy smirked.  
"Hmm, I bet you can hear what they're saying with those _wolfish _ears of your's." Remus winced. "I sure know Black can hear it." Sirius had begun to tremble with suppressed rage. Severus's smirk flickered. "But seriously, I think you should hurry up and take the idiot back."  
"Excuse me?" A faint flush rose to Severus's face.  
"He sent me a letter telling me to take it easy on you." The Gryffindor blushed. "And Lily wants you to." Remus gave Severus a small smile.  
"Thank you." He slid back to the Marauders. Sirius still had his fists clenched and there were tears in his eyes. Remus, without really thinking about it, uncurled the animagus's fingers. Blood was under his nails, and his palms were scratched up. "Sirius, why did you do that?"  
"So I wouldn't say anything you wouldn't like." Sirius gave Remus a sad smile and then left. The werewolf blushed again. He had something he had to do.

Sirius most definitely regretted kicking Remus out of his bed last night. The boy hadn't been able to get any sleep last night, nor did it look like he was going to fall asleep anytime soon tonight. He groaned and buried his face in his pillow. That werewolf would be the death of him some day. Speaking of the devil, Sirius heard the dormitory door open and close. He heard Remus's clothes fall to the floor, but he didn't hear him climb onto his bed. Instead, Sirius felt a pressure on his own. He flipped onto his back and found Remus hovering over him. "I thought I told you I couldn't do this anymore." Remus smiled.  
"You did. But you also said I shouldn't come back unless I wanted something more than sleeping." Sirius eyes widened as Remus brought their lips together. He responded eagerly and wrapped his arms around the werewolf's waist.  
"But what about that Ravenclaw you're dating." (Sirius wrinkled his nose in disgust at the thought.) Remus threaded his fingers through Sirius's hair.  
"I told him that it couldn't work; that I never stopped loving my ex." Sirius grinned and pulled Remus down to him. It had taken two months, but he was finally forgiven.


	34. Forever Fizzing Fireworks

James and Peter awoke to find that the newly-reunited couple forgot to close their four-hangings. The bespectacled boy, behind all the horror, was extremely happy. Finally all the moping, all the stalking, and all the unwanted stories would end. James smiled while Peter flicked the hangings closed with his wand. "Ugh. I see they're together again." The hazel-eyed boy laughed.  
"Things will finally be back to normal, Wormy." Peter, who was never really a fan of the couple, just rolled his eyes. What did he care? "Let's get some breakfast. I don't think they'll mind that we didn't wait." The pair left for the Great Hall. Sirius, once he heard the door close, opened his eyes. The pureblood had woken up earlier, but stayed curled up with Remus. He smiled and nuzzled into his boyfriend's chest. His smile grew—his _boyfriend_. Two months was much too long to be without Remus, he decided.  
"Moony." Remus groaned, but kept his eyes shut. Sirius began to trail kisses across the werewolf's chest. "Remmmuss." One amber eye appeared.  
"Mmm?" Sirius languidly dragged his fingers across Remus's hips.  
"Wake up so I can kiss you properly." Remus was most happy to oblige. The werewolf pulled Sirius's face towards his and crashed their lips together. The animagus sat up and pulled Remus into his lap. "Ready for make-up-sex round two?" Remus laughed and nodded. "Merlin, I love you." Sirius threaded his hands through Remus's amber hair. "I don't think I'll be able to stand it if this is a dream." Remus's smile flickered. He pressed his lips to Sirius's and then brought his lips to Sirius's ear. The werewolf nibbled it none-too-gently.  
"So, is it a dream?" Despite the pain in his right ear, Sirius grinned.  
"I hope you know I'm never allowing you to break up with me ever again." Remus—who most definitely did not forgot why they broke up in the first place—didn't say anything. For all the pain Sirius caused him that night, it didn't quite match up to the pain the werewolf felt without Sirius. He _needed_ the pureblood.  
"I hope you know I never intended on leaving you again, anyway." Sirius smiled and moved his hands to Remus's bottom. The amber boy, in anticipation, gripped Sirius's shoulders and shut his eyes. The animagus made a noise in the back of his throat.  
"Open your eyes, Rem. I want to see them." Remus obliged. "Thank you." Sirius, after making sure Remus really ready, brought the smaller boy down onto his member. Remus let out a strained groan and buried his head in the crook of Sirius's neck. The lovers moved together perfectly; everything was as it should be.

* * *

Sirius was the happiest man of all of Hogwarts. The remaining months of his sixth year were among some of the best of his life. No further problems arose between him and Remus; he was completely free of his family; and the Marauders were finally going to be seventh years. He was most definitely the happiest man in all of Britain, the animagus thought to himself as he looked down at his sleeping lover. "I'll marry you someday," he whispered to the slumbering Remus. Sirius lightly kissed the werewolf's forehead and slipped out of the bed. He met up with James in the common room; the boys began the preparations for the last great prank of the year. "Where's Wormy?" James shrugged.  
"Where's Moony?"  
"Sleeping." James smiled slightly and checked the map again.  
"It's empty except for Peeves—and I feel like we can get him to help." Sirius smirked. "Mischief managed." The map became blank, and the two pranksters slipped out of the common room. It turns out Peeves was more than willing to aid in their mischief. And it turns out McGonagall did not appreciate Forever-Fizzing fireworks in the Great Hall.  
"Black! Potter!" The boys, even with their impending doom, couldn't stop laughing. The prank had gone over beautifully; Peeves played his part perfectly; and McGonagall was in a lovely rage. Not bad, they thought, for a bit of end-of-the-year fun. "You boys have secured yourselves spots in detention next year." The Marauders groaned a bit, but didn't say anything else. At least she wasn't taking points from the winning, Gryffindor hourglass. "Don't smirk like that, Potter. Just because you're off the hook for the whole summer doesn't mean I'll forgot come September."  
"Of course, Professor." She glared at the boys, but let they leave without any further scolding. Sirius and James reentered the Great Hall and were met with a smattering of applause. The boys—with ridiculously large grins—sauntered over to the Gryffindor table. Peter looked up at them in admiration. (And slight disappointment. Why wasn't _he_ invited along?)  
"You guys were brilliant!" James's ego almost visibly swelled from Peter's words. Sirius—who was still a bit wary of Peter—just brushed off the compliment and sat down next to Remus.  
"So Moony, did you enjoy the firework display?" Remus smiled as he felt the animagus's hand slide into his own.  
"They were lovely." The pureblood smiled. "But aren't you afraid of what your parents will do?" The pureblood grimaced.  
"Meh. It doesn't matter now. I never have to see those pricks again." Remus looked at his boyfriend in confusion.  
"What do you mean; aren't you going home for summer?" Sirius had focused all his attention on winning Remus back after Christmas, so he had forgotten to mention his homeless status. The animagus ruffled his hair sheepishly.  
"Uh, I kinda ran away from home." Remus's eyes widened.  
"Where did you go? Why didn't you tell me? Are you okay?" Sirius laughed and brought a hand to Remus's cheek.  
"A little late for that last question, don't you think?" The werewolf blushed. "I didn't tell you because you weren't talking to me at the time." His blush darkened. "And I went to James's place." The lovers had caught James's attention.  
"Speaking of which, you're staying the summer, right?" Sirius smiled and nodded.  
"Only if I won't be a burden."  
"Nah. My parents love you." Sirius was quite ready to say 'how could they not', but he was interrupted but a pair of arms around his neck. Remus had launched himself onto the pureblood and buried his face into Sirius's chest.  
"I want to know everything. Tell me everything I missed." The silver-eyed boy smiled and stroked the werewolf's hair.  
"Do you want me to do it right now? Or can I have the summer?" Remus slowly nodded. "Good—you should just come live with James too." The werewolf laughed and continued to clutch Sirius. They'd have the entire summer; they'd have forever if they really wanted.


	35. Beginning of the End

The Potters were most certainly happy to have Sirius stay. Mrs. Potter always adored James's little friends, but due to circumstances they were never able to visit much. She was certainly delighted with Sirius—it was just like having another James. Sure it was hard to keep up with them, and yes they did eat quite a lot; but she loved them to death. "James! Sirius! Breakfast!" The boys tumbled down the stairs and greedily devoured the pancakes Mrs. Potter prepared.  
"Say Mum, can Remus come spend the day?" The woman smiled and thought of the shy little boy she met on the platform years ago.  
"Of course. Why don't you invite Peter, too? That way the whole gang can get together." James—who was imagining all the havoc the four could create—grinned.  
"I sure will, Mum. Thanks!" The boys, after shoveling the last of the pancakes into their mouths, hurried back to James's room. "I'll send word to Wormy; you can write to Moony." Sirius, who usually didn't need telling twice when it came to Remus, hesitated. His mind jumped to Mrs. Lupin's letter from years ago—'that nasty boy'.  
"Uh, Prongs; maybe you should write to Rem. I don't think his parents will okay it if they know I'm here." The bespectacled boy made a face. "Come on James—they hate me."  
"They probably know how much of an annoying git you are." But, as he was saying that, James began two short letters. Sirius smiled and ruffled the stag's hair.  
"Thank Prongs." He flopped onto the bed he was borrowing. "Just send Moony up when he gets here." James's eyes widened.  
"There's no way in _hell_ you're doing that in my room." Sirius pouted. "That ridiculous face isn't going to change a thing." The punk continued to make the face. "Seriously." They could have continued the banter, but there was a distinct 'pop' from outside. The boys heard the door open and Mrs. Potter's voice.  
"Well that sure didn't take long. It's good to see you Remus."  
"It's nice to see you too. Thanks for having me, Mrs. Potter." James and Sirius darted down the stairs. The werewolf, who heard their footsteps, smiled.  
"Rem!" Sirius engulfed the smaller boy in a hug. James's and his mother smiled brightly at the pair. "I missed you." The amber boy laughed.  
"It's only been two weeks, Sirius."  
"That's practically forever in dog years." Remus laughed again. The group heard a crackling from the living room; they found Peter's head in the fire.  
"I hope this is okay, Mrs. Potter—I still haven't passed my apparition test." The other three-fourths of the Marauders laughed as the rest of Peter stumbled from the fireplace.  
"Come on Wormy; we have things to do." The witch smiled as she watched the boys leave—oh to be young again.

The rest of the Marauders' final summer progressed much of the same way; many pranks, many full moons, and many memories. For the first time, none of the boys were really looking forward to Hogwarts. Going back to the castle meant their last year as carefree kids—none of them were really ready to give that up yet. And, even though they swore it wouldn't happen, they all knew the end of seventh year meant the end of the Marauders.  
So, as the four boys boarded the Hogwarts Express, they knew it was for the last time. They knew there was no going back now. "I need to head off to the prefects' compartment." Sirius tightened his grip on Remus's hand. "I'll be back in a few minutes, Pads." He released the werewolf's hand with some reluctance. No matter what, Sirius decided as he watched Remus walk away, seventh year wouldn't change their relationship.

* * *

Lily Evans had begun to notice small changes within James Potter during their fifth year. But it wasn't until seventh year that she noticed that _he changed_. Sure he was still as much of a ridiculous prankster as before, but something was off. It seemed he had actually matured. The redhead didn't believe it at first; she thought she was being tricked somehow. "Morning Lily!" Said boy smiled brightly. "Are you coming to the quidditch match today?" To Lily's embarrassment, she blushed.  
"Course Potter. You better bring us a victory." James's smile grew.  
"If it's what the lovely lady whishes." She blushed again. "I hope you enjoy the game." And then the bespectacled boy was swept away by the rest of the Gryffindor quidditch team. James Potter, Lily thought to herself, wasn't really that bad.  
Remus and Sirius smiled to themselves. It seemed Lily was finally coming around. "Rem, can we not go?" The werewolf turned to his boyfriend in surprise.  
"But you love quidditch." Sirius wrapped his arms around Remus's waist.  
"Yeah, but I love you more." He quickly pressed his lips to the werewolf's. "And we haven't had any alone time in a while." Remus smirked.  
"My, my, my; what could you_ possibly_ be suggesting Mr. Black?" Sirius moved his hands so to properly grope the amber boy's arse.  
"Is that a good enough answer? Or should I be more _explicit_?" Remus quite hurriedly unwound Sirius's arms, laced their fingers together, and rushed up the stairs. The boys ran into the seventh year's boys' dormitory and crashed onto Sirius's bed. Their clothes were gone in a matter of seconds, and Sirius hovered over Remus's member.  
"Merlin, I love you." The animagus let out a breath.  
"Say it again, Rem." The werewolf squirmed. "You need to make up for all the times when I said it and you didn't." Remus groaned and threaded his fingers in that black hair none-too-gently.  
"Are you serious, Sirius?"  
"I'm constantly seriously Sirius." He blew right over Remus's waiting member again; the werewolf tightened his grip on Sirius's hair.  
"I love you, Sirius." The animagus teased Remus's tip. "Hrnnn, I love you." He took more into his mouth. "Love..you." Remus could feel the smirk on Sirius's face as he finally took the full length into his mouth. The werewolf continued to moan strained 'I love you's as Sirius's head bobbed up and down. When he finished, the animagus was delighted to hear a 'Mmmm, Sirius' escape the boy's lips.  
"You look properly shagged." Remus, who was already quite red, flushed even darker. "And quite gorgeous." Sirius's hair tumbled down around Remus's face as the animagus loomed over his boyfriend. "Remus—" The pureblood's cheerful grin turned serious. "—we'll stay together even after Hogwarts, right?" He brought a hand to Sirius's cheek.  
"Course Sirius. Together forever is what you said, right?" Sirius's smile returned.  
"I'll start the wedding plans." (He _was_ taking that as a serious agreement to marriage.) The pureblood laced his fingers with Remus's and wriggled his lower body into a prime position. "And now it's my turn." Sirius gave a thrust and joined with his new fiancé. It might have been the beginning of the end for the Marauders, but it was just the beginning for the couple.


	36. Selecting of Sides

Most of Hogwarts's inhabitants were currently in the Great Hall and were currently looking at the Daily Prophet in disgust and fear. Not only had the feared werewolf Fenir Greyback bitten five more children on the last full moon, but He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's followers had began killing anyone they felt like—muggles, half-bloods, muggle-borns, and even purebloods when the mood struck. No one was safe anymore; not even inside the castle walls, the students began to suspect. Hannah McGinn and Patrick Rielly didn't come back this school year; both of Harvey Echeart's parents had died fighting Death Eaters; and Dumbledore was nowhere to be found some days. The war was steadily getting worse, and the four Marauders could no longer ignore it. Remus had his own vendetta against Greyback; Sirius's family were friends with these Death Eaters, and he knew what horrible judge of character they were; James couldn't stand evil of any kind, and he most definitely couldn't stand this war; and Peter was willing to follow James anywhere.  
"Sick bastards." James threw the paper onto the table. Photos of suspected Death Eaters leered up at the Great Hall. Remus laughed bitterly.  
"You don't even know the half of it, Prongs." He subconsciously rubbed the scar on his neck. "They don't see any of this as right or wrong; to them it's just one big game where winner takes all." Sirius pulled Remus's hand away from his throat.  
"You mean Voldemort takes all." A hush fell over the Gryffindor table—everyone looked at Sirius in awe.  
"You said the name, mate." Peter was the only Marauder who looked terrified at the name (James and Remus were also not afraid to say it). Sirius shrugged his shoulders.  
"So, I can say it all I want. Voldemort, Voldemort, Voldemort." Peter squeaked. "It's just a name, Pete." Sirius felt a hand on his shoulder.  
"Exactly, Mr. Black. Fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself." Professor Dumbledore looked down at the boys with a sad smile. "I wish I didn't have to advocate this in my school, but after you graduate look for the Order of the Phoenix." Dumbledore walked away as the four boys looked at one another.  
"The Order of the Phoenix is pretty serious stuff. Other than the Ministry, they're the only ones taking a stand against Voldemort." Peter winced. "I…I'm going to join them." James looked around at his friends uncertainly. "You guys don't have to come with me, but—" Sirius brought up a hand to stop James.  
"We're with you no matter what, James." Remus and Peter nodded in agreement. "I have a score to settle with Greyback anyway." A chilling growl sounded; for the first and last time in his life, James was afraid of his werewolf friend. Remus's teeth were bared, and he had a dangerous grip on his fork.  
"Greyback is _mine_." Sirius began to rub soothing circles on the werewolf's back. Remus's animalistic side faded away and was quickly replaced by embarrassment. The boy blushed and turned his amber eyes to his plate. "S-sorry." The Marauders were all too busy imagining the grim, non-so-distant future that they didn't notice Regulus walk over from the Slytherin table.  
"You didn't come home." The younger Black brother had on a face of confusion.  
"Well you see Reg, _I ran away_." The older Black was also confused.  
"I thought you'd chicken out and come back."  
"It seems you underestimate this Gryffindor crest." Regulus flushed and scowled.  
"She burned you off the tapestry." Sirius wrinkled his nose in disgust.  
"Good. I hated that thing." He stood up and ruffled Regulus's hair with some affection. "I hope you realize what that house stands for before it's too late." The Slytherin's flush darkened.  
"Yeah, whatever." Regulus stormed back to the Slytherin table; Sirius watched with a small smile. The smile grew when he felt Remus's hand slid into his own.  
"He's a good kid—he just hasn't realized it yet." Peter, who had never seen anything less than hexes occur between the Black brothers, finally understood that nothing could ever be the same again. Their promise to enter the Order of the Phoenix symbolized that.

* * *

The second month of seventh year was almost over, and James Potter had not tried asking Lily Evans out once. Normally the girl would love the fact, but she missed the normalcy (or so she said). Truth was, Lily had gotten a crush on the bespectacled boy. Sometime in fifth year attraction had planted its seed, and now she had a full-fledged crush on the marauder. "Hey Po—James!" The hazel-eyed boy looked around in surprise.  
"Good morning, Lily!" He smiled, but Lily saw an alien graveness in his eyes.  
"So did you hear about the next Hogsmeade weekend?" The redhead really hoped she didn't have to spell the rest of it out.  
"Oh! That's this Saturday isn't it?" Lily nodded enthusiastically. James ruffled his hair sheepishly. "Well I think I already know your answer, but since I haven't tried yet this year…will you go out with me, Lily?" The boy had his head hung, ready for rejection.  
"Yes." He snapped his head back up in surprise. "I would love to go on a date with you, James Potter." James smiled; the graveness wasn't in his eyes any more, Lily noticed happily.  
"Does this mean I can call you my girlfriend?"  
"Let's see if you can make it past the date first."

Word of James and Lily's date spread fast (with some help from Sirius, Remus, and Peter). Severus, when he heard, was in an absolute rage. He knew he ruined everything with Lily the day he uttered that awful word, but _Potter_? Sparks flew from the Slytherin's wand. What made the situation a thousand times worse was the fact that Severus _owed_ Potter—owed him his life to be more specific. The pale boy gripped his dark hair in anger. Potter didn't _deserve_ Lily. "Snape, how would you like to meet a Death Eater?" Severus looked up at his housemate.  
"Why, I'd be delighted to."

* * *

Lily had to admit that James sure knew how to treat a girl. He took her to the Three Broomsticks, bought her chocolate at Honeydukes, and even held all the doors for her. The green-eyed girl was wondering why in the hell she didn't say yes sooner. "So Lily…" James hesitantly laced their fingers together; she smiled. "Am I allowed to call you my girlfriend yet?"  
"Depends Potter, are you going to kiss me yet?" James was most definitely happy to oblige. He tightened his grip on Lily's hand ever so slightly and brought their lips together. What a perfect date, James thought to himself.


	37. Uncle Alphard's Kindness

Peter Pettigrew did not like Lily Evans—not one bit. He was honestly quite indifferent to her until James finally secured a date. Now, he couldn't help but be aware of her. James was with her practically _every_ second of _every_ day. Sirius and Remus were most definitely more than bad enough in Peter's opinion, but now he had two obnoxious couples to deal with. The worst part about the whole thing was the fact that Peter was utterly alone now. Before, when Sirius and Remus would go off to do Merlin knows what, Peter would at least have James (when there weren't any quidditch practices of course). But now James was cuddling up to Lily, and Peter was left alone with his status as the only single Marauder (and it didn't seem like that would be changing anytime soon). The blonde boy sighed and turned his attention to his Transfiguration essay. He sighed again as he finished his third foot of parchment—he needed at least five. N.E.W.T.s were going to be absolutely unbearable, Peter thought; especially since all his academic help was busy snogging.  
Seventh year was turning out to be the nightmare he had sincerely hoped it wouldn't be. At this rate, the rat-animgaus wasn't sure if he should be looking forward to graduation or not. In an effort to ease his abandoned feeling, Peter thought about the next full moon. They'd always have the full moon, he thought. He smiled a little sadly and went back to his essay.

* * *

The next full moon arrived quickly to Peter's secret delight. Lily was momentarily forgotten as the three animagi slipped under James's invisibility cloak. Remus hurried to the Whomping Willow in front of them. Peter shifted into a rat as they waited the proper five minutes before he darted out through the thrashing branches. He pressed the knot; the boys ran into the tunnel. James and Sirius threw the cloak off themselves, scooped up Wormtail, and quickly made it to the Shrieking Shack. Remus—still in human form—was waiting for them. "Ready for a fun night, Moony?" The werewolf smirked (a bit bitterly).  
"Always, Prongs." James shifted into a stag; Sirius, after stealing a kiss from Remus, shifted into a dog. The amber boy smiled at his friends before feeling the familiar tug on his humanity. His skin rippled; his fangs lengthened; and Moony came out. The four oddly matched animals stalked out of the shack and into the night. Although the war continued to rage on in the real world, the Marauders went through the night as they always had. Seventh year had brought them newfound maturity, but for the full moons they were still carefree pranksters; they were still Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs.

* * *

To Sirius it felt like fifth year all over again. Because of the impending doom of N.E.W.T.s at the end of the year, Remus was once again practically living in the library. The animagus had tried following his boyfriend to the library, but Remus would have none of it. 'I can't have you distracting me,' the werewolf said. 'You should be studying too,' the amber boy said. So Sirius was most decidedly in a sulk as he ate his eggs. "Are you really going to spend all day in that stuffy library again, Rem?" Sirius snaked an arm around his boyfriend's waist.  
"N.E.W.T.s are only a few months away!" The animagus rolled his eyes. "You should be studying too, Pads."  
"With these Black genes, studying would just be a waste of time." Remus laughed a little and slid a bit closer to Sirius. "Besides, I think of quite a few things we could be doing instead of studying." Sirius, not one for subtlety, was about to go into detail when his eyes caught something unpleasant. Heading directly for the Gryffindor table was a regal looking owl clutching a letter than bared the Black family crest. "Oh bollocks." Sirius caught the letter and ripped it open. The expression on his face quickly changed from one of suspicion to one of sadness. "Uncle Alphard's dead?" Remus, who had rarely heard his boyfriend mention any of his family with such affection in his voice, was extremely confused.  
"Uncle Alphard?" Sirius, who had momentarily forgotten his friends, smiled.  
"Yeah. He was great—even after all the 'blood traitor' stuff. He was never really a conventional Black." His eyes darted down to the letter. "He left me 500,000 galleons." The Marauders' eyes (and Lily's) all widened.  
"I knew the Blacks were rich, but wow mate."  
"And that's not even close to half of the combined fortune." James laughed as Lily's eyes widened even further.  
"Guess you won't be bumming off my parents anymore." Sirius shook his head and stared at the letter again. What in the world was he going to do with 500,000 galleons?  
"With money like this, I could probably get my own flat." Sirius smiled down at his Uncle Alphard's kindness. "Hell, I could buy a cute little country house; wouldn't that be nice, Moony?" The werewolf blushed.  
"I think a flat's just fine, Pads." Sirius, after looking at it one last time, folded the letter and put it into his bag.  
"A flat it'll be then." Remus's flush darkened; he wasn't exactly serious. "What do you think of Diagon Alley? Or Hogsmeade? Or—"Remus placed a hand over Sirius's mouth.  
"I think we still have plenty of time to think about it. Besides, you should be worrying about N.E.W.T.s now." The animagus rolled his eyes and pushed Remus's hand away.  
"Didn't I already tell you that Blacks don't need to study?"  
"Well if that's the case, then it looks like I'll be heading to the library by myself." Remus gave Sirius a quick kiss before leaving the Great Hall.  
"That absolute snake." The pureblood shook his head and returned his attention to his breakfast. He'll keep Remus all to himself once these pesky exams are over, he thought. Sirius smiled—he'll most definitely have Remus all to himself once they get that flat together.


	38. NEWTs

James Potter felt on top of the world. Gryffindor won the House Quidditch Cup (again he might add); N.E.W.T.s would be done with soon; and he finally had the girl of his dreams. Dating Lily Evans was everything James had always imagined it to be—it was also much better than that. "Lily, please don't tell me you're going to the library again?" The redhead vixen smiled.  
"Yes. Some people need to study, Mr. Potter." Lily had begun to walk away when James grabbed her wrist gently.  
"I need to study too; but I also need a study partner. So study outside with me?" She smiled again and nodded her head. James laced their fingers together and practically dragged Lily onto the castle grounds. The couple took up underneath a shady tree; Lily wondered if they'd actually be able to study. "So Queen of Potions, would you care to help me out with these brewing methods." James took out his copy of Advanced Potions.  
"Well maybe you could understand it better if you didn't doodle in your book." Snitches and 'JP+LE' littered the book's pages. James ruffled his hair sheepishly.  
"Yeah, but that'd be no fun." The redhead rolled her eyes.  
"I guess I'll just have to try my best with this." Lily did her best to help her boyfriend study. But, as she had guessed, the pair accomplished more snogging than studying.  
"I love you, Lily." She blushed.  
"I know." James pouted—it seemed like she wasn't going to say it back. "I pretty much love you too, James."  
"Pretty much?" She ruffled his hair affectionately.  
"Beggars can't be choosers, Potter."

Sirius had his hair tied back as he tried to concentrate on his notes. But how in the world was he supposed to keep his attention on Charms when Remus was adorably chewing his lip across the table? "Moooony, are we done studying yet?" Remus shook his head without looking up. "But I want a kiss."  
"Then go find Peter or something; I'm busy." Sirius gagged.  
"There's no way in hell I'd ever kiss Wormy." Remus still hadn't looked up from his textbook. "Even Lily is slacking off. Please Rem." The werewolf sighed.  
"But N.E.W.T.s are next week." Sirius reached across the table and closed Remus's book.  
"Exactly—you have plenty of time to study." The animagus laced their fingers together. "So please?" Remus nodded his head slowly. Sirius beamed.  
"But after this you have to let me study until they're over."  
"Fine, fine, fine." The pureblood began to tug the ribbon holding his hair back when Remus grabbed his arm. "Rem?" The werewolf blushed.  
"I think you look cute like that." Sirius smirked and released the ribbon.  
"I'll leave it then." The pureblood stood up and dragged his boyfriend out of the library. Remus's back hit the wall as Sirius leaned over him. "So, can I have a kiss now?" The werewolf was quite happy to say yes (well, he didn't actually need to say anything). Sirius smiled down at Remus; they only had a few more weeks until they could be together without interruption. The punk couldn't wait until  
seventh year was over.

* * *

Peter was the most nervous he had ever been as he walked into the Great Hall. The hundreds of individual desks made N.E.W.T.s an unfortunate reality for the round boy. In contrast, his friends were extremely confident as they walked in. "You'll do fine, Wormtail." James slung an arm around Peter's shoulders. He smiled up at his best friend.  
"Not as fine as you guys." Sirius smirked.  
"It's not easy being born with brains like this, Wormy." Remus rolled his eyes. "Moony had better do excellently, or else all that studying was a waste of my time."  
"You mean _you_ had better do excellently or else all that not-studying will come back and bite you in that lovely arse." The animagus smiled—he had only really caught the 'lovely arse' part.  
"Will I get to see _your_ lovely arse after this is over?" Remus smirked and slithered over to his seat.  
"You mean when all the tests are over? Certainly." Sirius's smile fell. He grumbled to himself as he sat at his desk. The sooner these tests are over, the better Sirius thought. Professor Flitwick began to hand out the parchment, and the animagus forgot his momentary anger. Sirius quite quickly blew through the questions; they were all pretty easy. The pureblood looked around the hall and wasn't surprised to find Peter struggling. The boy's blue eyes darted every which way, hoping to catch a hint off a neighbor. Sirius moved his gaze to James and was again unsurprised; the stag was doodling on the margins of his test. A smile slid onto Sirius's face as he looked around once more. Remus was bent close to his paper and was scribbling furiously. The pureblood could never really understand why his boyfriend put so much effort into his schoolwork. (The werewolf never understood why _his_ boyfriend _didn't_.) Sirius—who was quite dreadfully bored at this point—sighed and looked at the hourglass that was sitting at the front of the room. The bottom was half-full; it seemed like time wasn't moving at all in the hall. Sirius groaned and started drawing paw-prints across his test.  
When Professor Flitwick finally announced the end of the test, Sirius's paper was covered by tiny dog tracks. The pureblood quite hurriedly left his seat and found his boyfriend. Remus was revisiting the test questions when he felt arms wrap themselves around his waist. "The test is over—" Sirius purred into the werewolf's ear. "—so, can I have fun now?"  
"I believe I said after _all_ the tests, Padfoot." The pureblood groaned and tightened his grip. "It's only four more days." Sirius nuzzled his head into the crook of Remus's neck and bit the werewolf none-too-gently.  
"I can't wait that long, Moony." Remus laughed and pulled Sirius's arms away from his body.  
"You'll just have to figure something else out then." The werewolf slinked away. As soon as they got a flat, Sirius decided, he wasn't letting Remus leave for days—only to make up for lost time with these tests of course.


	39. Goodbye Hogwarts

Sirius breathed in Remus's scent as he tangled himself in the werewolf's sheets. The amber boy had one last test before Sirius could pounce. His ears perked up as the dog-animagus heard footsteps on the dormitory stairs. "Silencio!" Sirius, after casting the silencing spell, hid under Remus's covers. Nothing felt amiss to Remus as he entered the dormitory and pushed aside his hangings. He thought his bed looked a bit lumpy, but he just shrugged it off. The werewolf wondered why he hadn't seen Sirius yet as he closed his hangings. Remus's curiosity quickly left him as the pureblood pounced. Sirius pulled Remus underneath him and smirked. "How was your test?"  
"Oh, it was wonderful." The animagus began to undo the buttons on Remus's robe.  
"That's nice to hear." He slipped his hands underneath Remus's shirt. "And, seeing as that was your last test, you don't have any studying to do tonight. Right?"  
"Right." Sirius pulled Remus's shirt over his head.  
"So it looks like you have absolutely no excuse tonight." Remus reached up and pulled the ribbon out of Sirius's hair. His raven locks fell around their faces. The werewolf gently pressed his lips to the pureblood's.  
"Guess I don't." Sirius smiled and began fiddling with the button on Remus's trousers. "I would hardly call this fair—why are all of your clothes still on?" Remus reached up and tugged at Sirius's shirt.  
"You can always change that, Rem." So the werewolf pulled Sirius's shirt off and unbuttoned his trousers. "I love you, Remus." A slight flush touched the werewolf's cheeks.  
"I love you too, Sirius." They pressed their lips together again. Both boys quickly shimmied out of their trousers and pants. Remus dug his nails into Sirius's back as the bigger boy slid in. "Nnn.. I love you." Sirius placed a kiss on the werewolf's forehead.  
"Rem, I'm serious about getting a flat together." He continued to thrust as he talked. "So I guess I should probably ask if you even want to live with me." Remus dug his nails deeper into Sirius's back.  
"Can we..ahh…can we talk about this _after_ Sirius?" He smiled sheepishly.  
"Right, sorry." Sirius brought his lips to his boyfriend's. Remus groaned as Sirius went deeper. "I love you so much, Rem." The animagus moved his hand to assist Remus; the werewolf finished almost instantly after. Sirius, after looking at Remus's fully-pleasured face, couldn't hold out much longer. The boy came and then rolled off of his partner. Remus nuzzled his head into Sirius's chest as the bigger boy wrapped an arm around his waist. "So, about that flat?" Remus smiled.  
"We can look for one during the summer. Okay?" Sirius kissed the top of Remus's head. "After that we can get married." Remus laughed; it tickled Sirius's chest.  
"Not so fast, Pads." The werewolf, who was concentrating on Sirius's steady heart beat, began to slip into sleep.  
"Yeah, we have all the time in the world."

* * *

The Heir of the Black fortune looked at himself in the mirror. He fingered his elbow-length locks. Sirius gripped it as if he were going to tie it back. "Diffindo!" Most of Sirius's hair fell to the floor as he flicked his wand. The animagus looked at his new ear-length haircut with some uncertainty—maybe that was a _bit_ too short. Sirius vanished his fallen locks and wandered over to sleeping lover. He crawled back into the bed and wrapped his arms around Remus. The werewolf groaned and opened his eyes. "Morning." Remus reached up to tangle his fingers in Sirius's hair; he was confused when he grabbed air. The werewolf sat up and took a good look at his boyfriend. He threaded his hands in the unusually short hair. "Your hair…" Sirius laughed a bit awkwardly.  
"Yeah, new beginnings and all that." Remus looked at it a bit sadly. "I thought you liked it pulled back like this." The boy ruffled Sirius's hair.  
"I do. But I also love your long hair." Sirius was now quite certain this wasn't a good idea.  
"It'll grow back!" Remus laughed.  
"Of course it will." He pressed his lips to Sirius's. "Don't worry, love. You look just as dashing with short hair as you do with long hair." The animagus smiled a bit.  
"As long as you like it I can deal." Remus nuzzled his face into the crook of Sirius's neck and yawned. "Is little Moony sleepy?" The werewolf nodded. "Should I tuck you in?"  
"No. We should probably be going down." He yawned again, dispute his words. Remus had made to move his head from Sirius, but the bigger boy held it in place. "Sirius…"  
"Sleep's vital to a young wizard's health. Prongs and Wormy will be fine without us." Sirius pulled the sheets over them. "So stay."  
"Okay."

* * *

Remus John Lupin had never felt more uncomfortable in his life. He was feeling _quite_ out of place in his shabby dress robes; and it didn't help that Jason Bones was sitting next to Sirius instead of himself. The werewolf sighed and tried to concentrate on Dumbledore's speech. His wolfish ears were alert, but his amber eyes searched the crowd. Remus was sure that the very regal Blacks would have made an appearance, even with the running away and the fights. But the pureblood family did not show. The amber boy sighed and wondered how Sirius was feeling.  
Sirius Orion Black had never been more bored in his life. He had long ago stopped listening to Dumbledore and no one around him was interesting. Earlier he had tried to turn around to look at Remus, but Jason Bones reprimanded him. Sirius sighed and hoped this would hurry up and end. The boy had gotten his wish; all the seventh year students stood up. "Now if the students could please accompany me to the boats." Sirius waited a bit before darting into line with the L's. He laced fingers with Remus.  
"I missed you, Rem." The werewolf laughed quietly.  
"It's only been a few hours." Sirius shrugged. The lovers followed the rest of their class to the edge of the Black Lake. Dumbledore divided the students into boats, smiling as they started to drift away.  
"And remember, Hogwarts will your always be your home." Sirius and Remus found Lily, James, and Peter waiting. They joined the rest of the Marauders and began to drift away from the castle. Hogwarts grew smaller with each passing second, and Hogsmeade grew closer.  
"Goodbye Hogwarts." Sirius wrapped his arms around Remus's waist. As the boat moved further away from the lovers' first real home, it moved closer to their future one. Sirius Orion Black and Remus John Lupin were on their way to their life together.

End.


	40. Author's Note

Author's Note:

Thank you for remaining to the end with this story. While the puppies' lives at Hogwarts are over in this story, I plan to write a sequel about their life after it.

I already have many, many, many ideas for the sequel; but if you guys have any thoughts you would really like to see, feel free to share them! ^.^


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